Heirs of the Lost
by MerlinStar
Summary: The group experience changes both inside and outside Torchwood, but is there any difference? With the arrival of a mysterious spaceship, the team's lives will be changed forever, particularly one member, as they are drawn into an unimaginable problem. And what will happen when an old enemy surfaces? Definitely a T rating. Some Doctor Who references.
1. Meteor

_I've gotten rid of the Prologue because it was a bit piffly. Anyway, please enjoy and reviews would receive virtual hugs._

* * *

**Chapter 1: Meteor**

Toshiko Sato was sat at her computer, typing away as the machine decoded some alien message that had appeared when a UFO had briefly entered the atmosphere. Behind her, Owen Harper was sewing his slit hand for the dozenth time.

"Do you want some help with that Owen?" she asked, looking away and smiling at him.

"No thank you Tosh. I am a doctor after all." Owen returned the gesture, a thing that had become more frequent since he had started to open up to her about how he felt.

Captain Jack Harkness suddenly jogged in.

"Everyone brace yourselves; the bride is returning from her honeymoon," he said. "Ianto, have you got the party poppers?"

Ianto Jones was on the landing above them and he produced a bag full of the things.

"Is this really necessary?" Owen asked, looking from Ianto to Jack.

"I've got a banner as well," Ianto said, ignoring Owen's comment.

"Great," Owen muttered.

"I'll come and help you put it up," Jack said and ran up the stairs.

"Does it say 'welcome back, P.S. I _am_ shagging the boss'?" Owen asked.

"Funny Owen," Ianto said, though he couldn't help but smile slightly.

Owen rolled his eyes and continued to stitch his hand. Both he and Tosh listened to the two putting up the banner, laughing all the while.

"Did you have to tease him?" Tosh asked.

"It was just a joke and he knows it."

"I know it was Owen, but I think they're quite serious. It's not just shagging."

"And you would know this how?"

"Oh please, the number of times they've gone off before even you leave. I once saw them going into the cinema together."

"Well bully for the pair of them."

"I think it's good that Ianto's sort of found someone after..." Tosh trailed off but she didn't have to finish the sentence. Owen knew what she meant.

"Lisa. Alright, I see you're point."

"Do you ever wonder what would have happened if we hadn't killed her?"

"Amongst other things that are slightly more worthy of my time, including many ifs and maybes. I once imagined that she got Ianto onto the conversion unit and-"

"Okay, maybe something less...improbable. Ianto would never have got onto the unit and you know it."

"Of course I do, but I just...you know, imagined it. So go on then, what have you imagined about that?"

"I always thought that we could just destroy the machine."

"She was a Cyberman, she could have built another."

"Yeah, but I...imagined that Ianto could help her...talk to her...make her see how to be human again."

"You've got a point Tosh, but what's done is done."

The sirens went off and the door opened and Gwen walked in.

"Hi you lot," she greeted.

"Hello there Mrs. Williams," Owen called, finishing with the stitches and walking over to her. "Are we still allowed to hug you without Rhys socking us?"

"Oh shut up, Owen," Gwen said, hugging him and smiling. She let go and turned to Tosh.

"Hi Gwen," Tosh said, smiling.

"Alright?" Gwen asked, hugging her.

"I'm fine thanks."

Jack ran back down the stairs followed by Ianto.

"How was the honeymoon?" Jack asked.

"It was great. Rhys discovered that he likes jellied eels."

"Nice," Owen muttered.

Gwen rolled her eyes but, apart from that, ignored him and hugged Jack. She then turned to Ianto.

"Nice to have you back," Ianto said, hugging her.

"Have you boys been behaving?" Gwen asked. Ianto shrugged his shoulders.

"Depends what you see as behaving."

Everyone laughed.

"So have there been any aliens whilst I've been away?" Gwen asked, looking around and spotting the banner. "Oh no, you didn't."

From behind her, Jack and Ianto pulled out a couple of party poppers and let them off.

"Whose idea was this?" Gwen asked.

"Jack's," Owen said.

"Actually you were the one who said 'let's throw her a party when she gets back'," Jack argued.

"I didn't really mean it."

"Well thank you for the thought," Gwen said. "Rhys says hello by the way."

"Anyone for sausage rolls?" Ianto asked, pointing at a table by Tosh.

"Please, I'm starving," Gwen said. Everyone went to the table apart from Owen. Being the undead meant that he couldn't eat, drink or have sex- the three things he had enjoyed most about life. Ianto noticed Owen standing there.

"Oh God, sorry Owen," he said, looking embarrassed with himself.

"No problem; it's not as if you can't eat. I'm used to being dead now."

Ianto was still looking apologetic.

"Eat your sausage rolls, Ianto, before I stuff them in your face," Owen said. Gwen snorted into a beer.

* * *

The team's little party lasted for a couple of hours. Owen had even popped out to fetch his iPod and speakers and they had all danced, or at least tried to. Gwen was quick to tease Jack. Even though he was about a hundred years old but still had the body of a young person, he couldn't do any modern day dancing.

Ianto was now clearing up the rubbish, Jack was in his office, Tosh and Owen were talking in the autopsy room and Gwen was sitting on the sofa. Ianto stopped when he noticed her vacant expression.

"Are you alright Gwen?"

Gwen came back to earth and smiled.

"Yes I'm fine. Sorry, I was in a world of my own."

"Gwen, I can tell that something's wrong. You do that smile that never reaches your eyes. You can tell me, or do you want to talk to Jack?"

"Oh no, it's nothing to worry Jack."

"Well...do you want to talk about it?"

Gwen sighed and Ianto sat down next to her.

"When we were in Italy, Rhys sort of mentioned...starting a family. It just caught me off guard and I can't stop thinking about it. I mean, how can I have kids with the job I do?"

"Gwen, if anyone can manage having kids and working here, it's you. If you've got the chance to raise a family, do it. I would if I could. You have a life outside all of this, so you need to... I don't know... balance it out."

"You sound like Jack."

"Well, there's no harm in seconding an opinion."

Gwen chuckled. "Thanks Ianto."

"No problem."

An alarm suddenly went off and they both looked up. Ianto ran to the computer and was typing something into the keyboard when Tosh turned up.

"It's some sort of meteorite," the Welshman explained, stepping out of the way. "Crash course."

Owen had followed Tosh out of the autopsy room and Jack had run out of his office. Gwen had walked over from the sofa.

Tosh tapped away at the keyboard, cross referencing a number of things.

"It's some sort of material. Non-organic but... hang on, let me just run a few more checks. It's moving too fast for the satellite scanner."

"You do that," Jack said, "Ianto and Owen with me. We'll intercept it but when you find out what the hell we're dealing with, let us know; it could be dangerous."

"Can't I come?" Gwen asked.

"No, stay here with Tosh. I don't think Rhys'd be happy if you were hurt on your first day back at work."

Gwen muttered something under her breath but didn't say anything else on the matter. Jack nodded and the three men ran out. Ianto went ahead to get the SUV.

Once Ianto had pulled up outside the Millennium Centre, Jack and Owen jumped in and they set off. Owen was in the back looking at the SUV's computers.

"Tosh, any luck with those checks?" Jack asked.

"I'm sending you the results now."

A few seconds later, Owen was tapping away.

"Okay," he muttered. "We have seriously high levels of nitrate that isn't from the atmosphere for some strange reason and traces of aluminium and lead. On second thought, make that a lot of lead. There's also some unidentified substance on the outside. It's also hollow and two and a half to three metres in diameter."

"Can you scan what's inside?" Jack asked.

"No, there's some sort of field inbuilt into the lead. It's as if someone's sending it here for a purpose."

"Tosh, where is it going to crash?" Ianto asked into his com-speaker.

"Two miles north of the city," Tosh replied. "Impact in ten minutes."

"Well let's hope we get there before the army does," Owen mumbled. Jack cracked a grin.

"Do you want me to drive or do you think you are up to getting there in ten minutes?" he asked Ianto.

The Welshman's mouth widened into a smile. "I bet I can make that in five."

In the back, Owen rolled his eyes.

* * *

The three stared up at the sky as a bright orange light descended from the pale blue sky, leaving a trail of smoke behind it. The roaring was phenomenal as it soared over the earth and plummeted to the ground.

"Brace yourselves!" Jack shouted. At his words, Ianto slammed his foot on the brakes as he tried to bring the SUV screeching to a halt just as the earthquake began.

The initial impact was more than they could have guessed. Within seconds, the SUV was shaking and practically jumping on the road and then, before any of them knew it, it had flipped onto its front and rolled down the roof. By the time it had crashed down, the earthquake had finished. All was silent as steam began to rise from the SUV.

Owen shook his head as he tried to process what had happened. They were currently upside down and Owen was apparently the only one who had remained conscious. Both Jack and Ianto's arms were falling down towards the roof of the damaged SUV.

"Jack?" he heard Gwen ask. "Ianto? Owen?"

"I'm here," Owen replied. "I'm not sure about the other two though."

"What happened?" Tosh asked. "We felt the earth tremor. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine; we got flipped onto the roof and I think the front took most of the impact. Lucky otherwise I'd be even deader than I am already. We're all currently upside down. Wait a minute."

Careful not to land on the pile of glass directly beneath him, Owen angled himself so that he fell down right behind Jack. Reaching out, he shook Jack and when the captain was unresponsive. Feeling for a pulse, the doctor found that there wasn't any, which was when he saw Jack's face gradually healing from where it had been torn open by glass.

"Jack's dead... again." Owen knew that this was an almost everything day for Jack but...

"Owen... is Ianto alright?" Gwen asked meekly through the com, voicing the question that was in Owen's mind.

Owen slowly lifted his hand to the hopefully just unconscious Ianto's neck and waited. He was rewarded with the pulsing sensation throbbing against his fingertips. "He's alive."

The words were barely audible but the two women understood. In the Hub, they both sighed.

"I'm on my way," Gwen said, grabbing her coat and rushing for the door. "Tosh, could you keep an eye on that meteor, please?" Tosh nodded and turned back to the screen.

There was a sudden gasp next to Owen and he look around to see Jack some to, blinking back blood as the cuts continued to heal. Jack saw Owen kneeling next to Ianto and his face became panicked.

"We need to get him out before I can see what else is wrong with him," Owen said.

"You get him out of that seat belt and I'll deal with the door," Jack said, nodding, undoing his own and kicking the passenger door open, nearly forcing it off of its hinges. Rolling out and groaning, Jack ran around the car and tugged at the driver's door. It fell away from the body of the car with a loud clang. Not worrying himself about the fact that the vehicle was now a ruin, Jack eased Ianto out of the SUV and laid him on the hard road, allowing Owen to crawl out afterwards, carrying his large first-aid kit.

Jack gulped as he saw two long gashes across Ianto head, both stretching across from his temple. Blood dribbled down the side of the pale face and onto the gravel underneath him. His lips also bore a single cut and they could both see the blood trickling down his throat and across his chin.

"Hold him," Owen whispered. Jack complied and leant Ianto against his chest as Owen entered his zone.

The doctor lifted Ianto's eyelids up and was glad to see that nothing out of the ordinary there. He then listened to the Welshman's breathing pattern and brought out the stethoscope to check his heartbeat.

"He'll be okay, hopefully," he told Jack and the women through the coms as he began to apply bandages to Ianto's head. "His breathing and heart haven't been affected so he probably won't suffer from trauma. But I can't tell if he's got a concussion until we either do an x-ray or he wakes up."

"Thank God," Jack muttered as he shifted Ianto into a more comfortable position.

"Tosh, how far is the meteor from where they are?" Gwen asked as she drove along in her car.

"It's only about half a kilometre," Tosh replied.

"Yeah, we can see the smoke," Owen said, looking around. "But at this rate, the army'll get there before us. We can't carry Ianto to the crash site."

"I'm almost there," Gwen told them. Sure enough, a few minutes later they heard the sound of a solitary vehicle and she soon drew to a halt next to them. Her eyes widened as she saw Ianto, still being cradled in Jack's arms.

"Oh God," she muttered. "Are you sure he's going to be alright, Owen?"

"I hope so."

"Well, bring him in here or he'll freeze to death. He looks like a ghost."

Jack immediately lifted Ianto off of the cold road and almost dove into the back of the car. Owen jogged around to the other side of the car and flung himself into the passenger seat. Looking behind him, he saw that Jack had laid Ianto along the entire of the backseat with his head resting on the other man's lap.

By the time they had arrived, the air was thick was smoke and all they could see was an orange blaze.

"Who'd have thought a meteorite that small could have caused so much damage," Owen said, gazing around at the chaos. "Tosh, how far away is it?"

"About thirty metres," Tosh said, typing away at her computer. "How's Ianto?"

Owen paused to look back at the Welshman before answering. "Still unconscious."

On the other side of the com, Tosh let out a small breath. At least he wasn't dead.

"Jack, you go with Owen and I'll stay with him," Gwen whispered softly.

Jack's teeth gritted together but he gave a curt nod and gently lifted Ianto's head off of his lap and leapt out of the car. Owen followed suit, leaving Gwen to watch their colleague. She soon gave up craning her neck; she got out of the passenger's seat and opened the door so that she could crouch next to Ianto's head. The air stank of smoke but the slight breeze meant that it was fresher than the stuffiness inside the car and she thought that it might help.

Owen and Jack now bore gas-masks over their mouths and noses as they crept towards the meteor, pistols at the ready. When they came open a gaping hole in the forest ground, they had to squint to see it.

"Is that it?" Owen exclaimed, incredulously. "That can't be more than thirty centimetres in diameter. Tosh, I think you're measurements were wrong."

"No," Tosh argued, "I'm sure that it was that big when it entered the atmosphere."

"Well it would explain the wreckage it's left," Jack muttered. "It must have been covered in some sort of rock that came off because of the heat. Oh well."

Without warning, Jack jumped down into the crater and stared at the meteor in surprise.

"Okay, I'm not getting any warmth from this thing, considering it's just been in the equivalent of an inferno."

"Well, what does it look like?" Owen called down.

"It's a spaceship alright and a small one at that. I don't even think an Adipose would be able to fit into this thing."

"A what?" he heard three voices say down the com-speaker.

"Bodies grown from living fat."

"That is sick," Owen said, his tone one of disgust. "Anyway, I'm not sure what it is. At least we know we can get this back to the Hub without much of a problem. Is there anything on the scans?"

"Not as far as I can tell. It's picking up the lead, aluminium and the material that I don't recognise. The nitrate's burnt itself out. No radiation of any sorts either."

"You're kidding."

"I know what you mean. After floating in space it should be surrounded by cosmic radiation but it isn't. I can't tell if there's anything inside either so we'll have to try to crack it open back at the Hub."

"So there's nothing that should be harmful?"

"As far as I can see, there isn't. You should be fine to pick it right up."

Jack snapped a pair of plastic gloves on and staggered as he only just managed to lift the ship off of the ground and passed it up to Owen.

"Jeez, this thing ways a tonne," Owen complained.

"It's a spaceship, what did you expect, Owen?" Gwen said. She then gasped. "Jack, Ianto's waking up."

Jack heaved himself out of the crater and jogged back to the SUV.

"Oh great! Thanks!" Owen called. "I'm meant to be the doctor."

Gwen only gave Jack a brief glance as Ianto moaned again and his eyelids eased open.

"Ianto?" Jack whispered.

But their relief was short-lived as Ianto's eyes closed and his head lolled to the side.

Owen, who had, by now, returned with the meteor and placed in the boot of Gwen's car, inspected the Welshman again.

"Is he alright?" Gwen asked, anxiously. "Why did he just fall unconscious again?"

"I don't know. I need to do some x-rays; he could have internal bleeding."

Jack stiffened at this and Gwen gulped and rubbed her neck.

"Let's just get out of here before the army turn up," Gwen muttered. "I don't think we can afford to get caught up with them."


	2. Breach

**Chapter 2: Breach**

"And look back towards me," Owen said, as he continued to shine the torch into Ianto's eyes. The Welshman blinked against the glare.

Ianto had woken up just as Owen was completing an x-ray, to everyone's relief, and had been incredibly confused as to how they were back in the Hub. Jack had filled him in with what had happened after the SUV had flipped onto its roof.

"And I'm usually the one who drives carefully," Ianto had murmured, to which the others had laughed at, glad to see that his sense of humour hadn't been affected.

Owen was now currently making sure that his colleague wasn't disorientated in any way and when he placed the torch back on the autopsy table, the others waited with baited breath.

"So far, you're very lucky. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with you at all, apart from those cuts. You may also get some bruises though, and if that's the case you'll be tender for a few days."

"So?" Ianto asked.

"So you may want to take the rest of the day off," Owen answered. "I haven't had a look at most of your x-rays yet and I don't think it would be good for you to strain yourself." He turned to Jack and gave him a meaningful look. Ianto saw this and didn't look to happy.

"I feel fine. I don't mind working the rest of the day."

"Ianto, you need to rest," Gwen said. "You've just had your head cut in a car accident."

"I think we're all quite surprised that you're not at least in shock," Owen argued. "And I also think Jack'll agree with me when I say I don't think he wants you to suffer."

Ianto turned back to Jack.

"Go home, Ianto," the captain said, softly. "I'm sure we'll manage for one evening."

"But-"

"Ianto, it's fine. The only likely thing that'll happen is a Weevil turning up again. I'd rather that than you having a nervous breakdown, if that's indeed what happens with something like this."

The Welshman seemed to lose what fight that had been in him and he made a very forced attempt at a smile.

"Okay then, I'll see you tomorrow." Without waiting for any of them to reply, he turned and left as quickly as he could whilst not running.

Only when he had reached the reception area did he hear following footsteps and he turned around to see Jack run into the room after him.

"I'm sorry," Ianto muttered. "I know you all mean well."

Jack put a hand on his shoulder. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that you just get some rest. I'm not saying you have to stay off work for a week but you shouldn't stay here when you should spend some time relaxing. Torchwood shouldn't be your entire life."

"I think we both know it's too late for that. But, if I did have something outside of Torchwood, then it'd be you." Ianto flushed slightly but he didn't try to take back the remark.

"I tell you what," Jack said in a cheerful voice, "I'll come round to yours later and I might as well bring some pizza."

This idea apparently cheered Ianto up a great deal. He grinned. "Nothing with pineapple." His blue eyes twinkled with a mischievous light and Jack couldn't help but laugh.

"I'll be round at seven, alright."

"See you then."

With a lighter heart than he had had a minute ago, Ianto made for the door and smiled at Jack again before closing the door behind him.

Jack continued to stare at the door as Ianto's comment about him being Ianto's life reverberated around his head. He wasn't sure if that made him happy or sad that he had taken the young man's life away from him. However, Jack had to admit that Ianto had been involved in Torchwood way before they had known each other. He had worked for Torchwood London and had desperately tried to keep his half-converted-into-a-Cyberman girlfriend alive, hiding himself away from the world and practically becoming nothing more than a ghost.

But that was partly why Jack thought it could be happiness. Ever since after Lisa, Ianto had begun to be a lot more open about how he felt. Jack felt as if he and the others had finally peeled away the layers that hid the Welshman. He smiled a lot more and was good at making the occasional joke. And Jack felt a sense of pride for him as Ianto was now fully involved with the team and voiced his own opinion instead of sitting in this same room all day, keeping up the perfectly dull tourist information façade.

As Jack turned and walked back down into the depths of the Hub, he could hear loud conversation rising out of the open entrance. Once the wheel had rolled shut behind him, the captain could make out Owen's voice. He wasn't being very discreet with his obscenities.

"I can't believe these fucking scanners can't get through this bloody thing," Owen swore, slamming a piece of equipment onto the table. "I thought they could scan through bloody everything."

"Come off it Owen," Gwen's voice said. "There's no need to get so wound up about some alien technology not working."

"But it does work," Tosh countered. "I've run diagnostic checks on it at least five times. I've even done tests."

"Then why isn't this piece of shit working?" Owen grunted.

"I think someone else needs to go home," Jack said as he walked into the autopsy room.

"I can't exactly do much, Jack," Owen muttered. "I'm just trying to see what this mess has inside it but this piece of kit is beginning to piss me off."

Jack raised his eyebrows at Owen's remark.

Owen heaved a sigh and leant against the autopsy table.

"I'm sorry alright," he said, wincing at the words. "I've just been getting a little bit narked with the stuff that doesn't seem to want to work for me anymore. The fantastic part of it is I'll never be able to experience the use of both good hands again."

"You'll get there," Jack told him. "Nobody can exactly expect anyone to get used to being dead in a hurry. Tosh, why don't you run the checks on that thing again? There may be something we missed the first few times. Then get on to the garage down the road to make sure the SUV's mainframe isn't hacked into. In the meantime, Owen, do you think you'll be able to identify the stuff on the outside of this thing that we have no clue about. And Gwen, could you ring UNIT. I need to see what they got for the ship when it entered the atmosphere; angle of entry and stuff like that. Give them the code otherwise you'll have the army on your door at three o'clock in the morning."

"Have you ever had that happen to _you_?" Tosh asked, frowning.

"Trust me, you don't want to know and I try not to remember."

Owen snorted as he began to chisel away at part of the spaceship.

* * *

Ianto exhaled heavily as he stepped out of his car and made the daily journey from car to door, whilst bringing out his keys.

The Welshman lived in a quiet area of the city, somewhere near the outskirts. He sometimes joked to himself that it was the only area not affected by aliens or God knows what else. The houses had that lovely rustic aesthetic that differed a great deal from the centre of Cardiff. Ianto thought that this was perhaps why he liked it; it was away from all the mayhem and chaos of everyday life.

That was when the usual silence was disturbed by a beeping noise and Ianto span around to see a removal van driving away from the house on Ianto's immediate right. A young woman was standing in the driveway, scratching her head as she looked at the number of boxes surrounding her.

"Hello?" Ianto called over the fence. The woman turned around and smile when she saw him.

"Hi," she replied in a fully pronounced English accent, waving jovially. "Oh, hang on... Ianto, isn't it?"

"Err... yes." Ianto felt completely nonplussed.

"Oh... right, sorry, it's Caiera... You know, I was looking at the house about a month ago... Well when I say a month ago, I mean just over three weeks... well, less than that... but anyway... You were trying to get the football off of your porch for the boys across the street."

"Oh... right, sorry... Took me a minute to recognise you... Been a bit hectic."

"I gathered from the bandages on your head. Do you want me to look at that?" Caiera asked, motioning at his head. "You look like you've been in the wars a bit."

"It's fine; I've already seen a doctor."

"What did it, a mob of angry people?"

"No, the car we use at work got flipped over by that earth tremor."

Caiera stared at him in a horrified manner.

"It wasn't too bad, hence only the scratches," Ianto reassured, motioning at his injuries.

"You must be the luckiest man on Earth," Caiera said, raising an eyebrow in a comic fashion.

There was a sudden mewing noise from a basket near Caiera's feet and scratched her head again, looking embarrassed. "One minute." Crouching on the ground, the woman picked up the basket and disappeared into the house. After a few moments, she reappeared, closing the door behind her.

"Sorry, that was the kittens. Picked them up this morning, so now they need to get used to their new home," she explained, walking back over to the fence.

On closer inspection, Ianto saw that his new neighbour was strikingly beautiful, and she was dressed in tight fitting tracksuits and a strappy sports T-shirt. Her tawny-brown hair hung down to her chin and the messy look it had somehow acquired made her thin face stand out even more. Her eyes were pale blue but had a weighed look about them that seemed to penetrate Ianto's soul as she looked at him. It made the Welshman think of ice-blue fire. Her lips were perfectly sized- not to thickly set or thin- and were a pale pink. Her skin was slightly tanned, telling him that she had spent some time abroad. She had an athletic build but this physical look made her appear even more graceful than was necessary.

"You can come and visit them sometime if you want," Caiera said, interrupting Ianto's inspection of her. "And after saying that, I must leave you because I need to unpack and I apologise in advance if I'm a bit loud sometimes."

Caiera then walked over to, and Ianto was amazed he hadn't noticed already, a piano and began to push it around the side of the house with what appeared to bit little effort.

"Do you need help with that?" Ianto called.

"No, I'm good. Besides I know you shouldn't be straining yourself. Your doctor told you to rest, didn't he?"

"Yes."

"Well take this as a secondary opinion from another doctor- just rest. I don't think your doctor would be very happy if he found out you'd been helping me with my piano. Don't mean to seem rude, but I don't think I'd want someone to go into an arrest before I even start work."

"Wait, you're a doctor?"

"Yep. Dr. Caiera Messaline at your service, so if you ever find yourself choking on a nut don't hesitate to ask me to help you out." She smiled as Ianto snorted with laughter. "Seriously though, I know we've just met but if you need anything you can always ask."

"Shouldn't it be me saying this to you?"

Caiera made a grimace. "Well... maybe... but that's only meant to be when I've got no sugar. Anyway, I'll see you sometime soon once I've sorted all of this stuff out."

Chuckling to himself, Ianto continued to his front door and closed it behind him, but not before he caught sight of his new neighbour leaning against her piano, as if pondering something.

* * *

"Jack," Tosh called from her computer, "we may have a problem."

"Oh God, what now?" Owen muttered, looking up from the ship in the autopsy room. "If it's more meteors, I'm not interested."

Gwen was leaning on the table next to Tosh and reading the screen, her face falling as her eyes dashed from side to side as she read.

"And we didn't spot this?" she asked Tosh.

"No. I was just checking if the Rift had anything to do with the spaceship and I just saw this."

"What's happened?" Jack asked, walking up behind them.

"There's been a breach in the Rift that's been open for about six months," Tosh explained.

"Shit," Owen said. "You're not kidding, are you Tosh?"

"No, I think someone was blocking it from our external scanners. It closed literally an hour ago and the Rift manipulator has only just registered it."

"How's that possible?" Jack said, sounding incredibly infuriated. "Nobody can do that without wrecking our scanners and as far as I'm concerned, they're still working. Remember that group of Weevils that came through last week."

"Don't remind me," Gwen mumbled. "That poor porter."

"Do you think the ship had something to do with the breach closing?" Owen asked Jack.

"Maybe," the captain replied. "The atmospheric disturbance caused by the ship could have caused it to close... But I don't think we can just assume that. You're probably right, Owen, that spaceship has something to do with this breach, but I don't think the ship closed it. It's possible that someone was keeping the breach open whilst waiting for the ship to arrive here just in case it didn't arrive so they could make an easy exit without exposing themselves."

"They must have had access to a colossal amount of energy to be able to do this for the last six months," Tosh said, still looking at the screen. "What's interesting is that the Rift's levels were constant instead of erratic."  
"So do we have another alien on the loose?" Owen enquired, rubbing his chin.

"More than likely," Jack replied, "but we can't be sure until they start to get noticed. That ship is here for a reason and whoever sent it here is going to want it back."

"Who's going to want it back? I mean, it's tiny. You can't do anything with it."

"You'd be surprised. It may be smuggling something from another planet, so we need to be careful. How are you coming on with getting it open?"

"I've been at it with a hammer, blowtorch, knife, really large pliers, scalpel, a chainsaw and I even tried a spoon and a spade. Nothing is getting into it. I only just managed to chisel off a corner."

"Which means that whoever the ship belongs to doesn't want anyone to get in," Gwen mused.

"We do whatever it takes to open this thing," Jack said. "If there's something in there that's a threat to humanity then we need to find out before the alien comes looking."

* * *

Jack waited in the freezing wind as he heard movement behind the door and Ianto's face appeared from behind it, smiling.

"I thought you weren't coming for another half an hour," Ianto said, peering at his watch.

"I got out earlier than anticipated, giving me more time to chose something without pineapple," Jack explained, producing two boxes of pizza and a tub of coleslaw as Ianto moved out of the way for him to enter. "And might I ask what all of those boxes are doing outside next door?"

"New neighbour. I was just talking to her again before you arrived. She moved here from London and it sounds like she's been to quite a few places before even that."

"Is she nice?"

"She seems so. She was very friendly when I got home and she asked if she should look at my head."

"What, is she some sort of doctor?"

"Got it in one."

Jack made a face as if to say 'nice' before sitting himself down on the sofa, Ianto following suit.

"Pepperoni or Meat Feast first?" the captain asked.

"Meat Feast, please."

There was then silence as they both ate their way through a couple of pieces of pizza each, leaning back against the sofa.

"Any luck with the spaceship yet?" Ianto asked, digging into yet another slice.

"Well, Owen found that he couldn't get into it, even with a spoon..." Ianto choked at this and sniggered into his hand. "...but what was more concerning is that we found that somehow managed to block our scanners from finding a breach in the Rift that was open for six months."

The Welshman stared at him as if he though Jack to be mad. "You're serious? But how could they possibly block the scanners without entering the Hub?"

"That's what I'm asking myself and I came to the conclusion that it's some sort of high intelligence that we haven't seen before. We deduced that whoever it was kept the breach open so they could escape in case the ship didn't arrive."

"Meaning that they could be out there right now looking for it," Ianto summarised. "And what if they go to the Hub?"

"Then we'll have to be ready. We're just going to have to keep an eye out for each other in case they try to pick us off whilst we're separated so they can gain entry."

"You won't be picked off though; you're immortal."

"Which means I'm going to do everything it takes to make sure you're all safe, especially Owen. He's a lot more fragile than any of us so he's the most vulnerable."

"Rhys may also want protecting otherwise Gwen may go and top herself if something happens to him."

"Top herself?"

"Well... you know what I mean. She did help open the Rift to get him back."

"I know and I never thought I'd hear you use slang like that. Anyway, back to the present, I'm going to tell you all to carry a gun with you at all times until we know what's going on."

"Yes sir," Ianto said, making a mock salute. Jack snorted with laughter and dropped the fork he had been using for the coleslaw.

At that moment, Ianto yawned and blinked sleepily.

"Someone needs to go to bed," Jack said, looking up from where he was trying to find the fork.

"I'm okay."

"You have been resting, haven't you? I don't think Owen think would be to happy."

"I wouldn't blame him if he came out here and sedated me. Luckily for all three of us, though, all I've been doing this afternoon is reading and talking to Caiera."

"Oh well, it would have been funny to watch him chase you whilst holding some sedative."

"I have no intention of letting that happen. It wouldn't be fair on Owen."

"It still would have been funny."

* * *

Ianto bolted out of his sleep in a cold sweat as he awoke from a nightmare. Looking around, he saw that he was in his room with Jack lying next to him. Everything there appeared to be normal. The only abnormality was what had just happened in Ianto's head.

Stripping off the bed sheets, Ianto staggered down the stairs and into the kitchen, reaching for a glass and turning the tap on. He then drank the water gratefully.

As he drank, Ianto tried to recall what the nightmare had actually been about, but the more he tried to think the more he couldn't remember and very soon the details had all but drained from his head. He could only recollect a few aspects of the nightmare but that made it all the more frightening. The most prominent thing that he could remember was that it had felt so real. The Welshman reached up to touch his heart which was aching with an emotion he couldn't quite make out. Was it longing? Loss? Sadness? He wasn't sure but it still sent waves of trepidation through his being.

He closed his eyes and tried to hold on to the remaining few details. He could almost see the dark shadow of a person barely remembered and... What was that sound? It was if the sound had been filtered so he couldn't tell what it was and that caused him to feel infuriated as well as terrified.

"Ianto?" he heard Jack's voice ask.

Pulling himself from his trance, the Welshman opened his eyes and turned around to see Jack standing in the doorway, a look of worry on his face.

"It was just a nightmare," Ianto mumbled, taking another sip of water.

"It was a lot more than just a nightmare if you're in this state," Jack countered, walking over. "You look worse than you did when we pulled you out of the SUV earlier, and you were unconscious. What's wrong?"

Ianto tried to pull his thoughts straight but found it impossible. He was still reeling from his nightmare.

"I... I don't know. I just feel as if... I don't know what's caused it."

Jack gently held his shoulders and looked at Ianto as if trying to sense what was wrong.

"One minute," he whispered. He immediately went into the hallway and pulled out his phone, dialling Owen's mobile.

"_Hello?_"

"Owen, it's me. Have you had a look at Ianto's tests yet?"

"_Yes but I didn't want to call you just in case you were...busy_."

"Is there anything wrong with him?"

"_No, he's as healthy as a horse. No sign of an internal bleeding or haemorrhaging and no broken bones or fractured skull. I said he was lucky. Why? Is something up?"_

"Something Ianto just dreamed about has him spooked. I just wanted to be sure that it wasn't some sort of psychological condition."

"_I'm pretty sure that there's nothing wrong with him. If he had something like PTSD then I'd know about it._"

"Alright. Wait; are you still at the Hub?"

"_Yeah, me and Tosh are carrying on with the ship but I seriously doubt we'll be able to get into it_."

"Okay then, I'll see you later on."

"_See ya_."

Jack closed his phone and went back into the kitchen to see Ianto placing the glass on the table in the middle of the kitchen, a frown dominating his features.

"How do you feel now?" the captain asked.

"Just tired," Ianto replied simply.

Chuckling, Jack led Ianto out of the kitchen and back upstairs into the bedroom, the latter allowing this to happen instead of protesting in any way. Once back under the sheets, Jack pushed Ianto gently so that he was facing the other way and began to slowly massage his back. Ianto slowly began to succumb to the numbing sensation that sleep provided, curling into a ball as Jack's massaging carried him off into a deep slumber.

Jack watched Ianto in his sleep, the man's eyes rolling around behind their closed lids. He smiled to himself as Ianto muttered something in Welsh, his face lolling towards Jack before flopping the other way again. The captain stared at how innocent the Welshman appeared to be in his sleep- it was a trait that constantly caught Jack off guard.

Soon, Jack found himself drifting off, wrapping his arms around Ianto's warm chest.

* * *

_I will try to update soon. Thanks for reading._

_MerlinStar_


	3. Caiera

**Chapter 3: Caiera**

About a week after the ship had crash landed, Ianto found himself stumbling towards his car just as the sun crept over the roofs of the surrounding houses, rubbing the fatigue out of his eyes. Once he had clambered into his car, it only took a more few seconds before he realise that something was wrong. No matter how many times he turned the key, the ignition wouldn't roar into life as it always did.

"Shit," the Welshman muttered, clambering out of the car and bending down to see what was wrong with the vehicle. As far as he was aware, there was nothing out of the ordinary, but then he wasn't exactly an expert on cars.

"Are you alright, Ianto?"

Turning around, Ianto saw Caiera peering over the fence.

"My car won't start." He motioned at the infuriatingly silent vehicle.

"Let's have a look."

With an extreme amount of agility, the young woman leapt over the fence and ducked under her neighbour's car. She whistled.

"Shit," she said, echoing Ianto's obscenity. "What on earth have you been doing to it?"

"I haven't done anything; all I do is drive and fill it up with petrol. I'm no mechanic."

"Well..." she brought herself out from underneath the car. "...if I didn't say any better you've had someone tinkering about with your car and I don't think they were happy-go-lucky mechanics. Your brake-line's been cut as well as the acceleration cable. It also looks as if your tank's been emptied and your spark plugs are dangling underneath your bonnet looking as if they've been chewed by a racoon. There aren't racoons in this area are there? I've never seen one before and I bet it'd be fun."

"And how much would this cost to repair?" Ianto interrupted. He had known Caiera for a week now and was getting used to her occasional ramblings.

Caiera made a hissing noise through her teeth. "About a thousand pounds."

"A thousand!"  
"Give or take the odd pound. However, I have an easier solution. You get someone to pick you up and I'll fix it for you whilst you're at work, free of charge."

"I can't ask you to do that."

"You don't need to, I'm offering and I reckon I'd do it anyway. I'm on the evening shift this week so I have nothing to do until half past nine this evening."

"But you can't do it for nothing!"

"Watch me. I get a decent salary from the hospital so I don't need the extra cash. No, you keep your money for something you need."

"Do you actually know how to fix a car?"

"Hey, I may be a doctor but it doesn't mean I can't have my interests. I once knew someone who kept goldfish as a hobby. For the life of you, you couldn't move in his house unless you wanted to go swimming with the fishes. Absolute nightmare when he wanted to get the post or get to work on time. Don't you have any hobbies apart from work?"

"Well... I read a lot..."

"And that's it? Oh well, each to their own; I'm not one to criticise unless strictly necessary. So can I fix your car _with_ your permission?"

Ianto sighed and nodded, giving her a warm smile. She returned it and promptly went into her house. Whilst she fetched some tools, Ianto reached into his pocket for his phone and called Jack.

"_Ianto? What's up?_"

"Nothing much, but I've got a small problem. Somebody thought it would be funny if they ruined my car and I sort of need lift."

"_That's fine. I'm picking Gwen up as well- her car's in for an MOT. I'll be there in about ten minutes_."

"See you then."

The moment Ianto hung up, Caiera came back out of her home wearing overalls and carrying some sort of skateboard and an enormous tool box.

"Thanks for this, Caiera," he said.

"No problem. You did lend me the sugar the other day. Besides, it lets me have some fun. I've never done a car before, though I have done a lorry."

The Welshman watched as the young woman lay back on her skateboard and began her work.

"Have you given your kittens names yet?"

"Yeah, I went to the vets to sort out the paperwork yesterday. They are now officially Cline and Lara Messaline."

"Are you going to get them neutered?"

"No point. The more the merrier; that's what I think. Who says we should stop the natural cycle of life? And speaking of life, who's that man who comes over to yours every odd evening?"

Ianto blushed and was thankful that she couldn't see him.

"That's my boss."

"Oh yeah, you mentioned a Jack Harkness, but I didn't think he's be a regular around here. You should both come round for a cup of tea sometime. I'd like to hear more about the special ops. You never seem to want to discuss it... Or does it have something to do with the Official Secrets Act?"

"Something like that, yes."

"Oh... Well if it's going to get you into trouble don't tell me."

"How's your job going at any rate?"

"Same old, same old. A few days ago we had someone bring their son in because the lad had somehow managed to get a pot stuck on his head."

Ianto chuckled at this. That was when he heard the revving of an oncoming engine and he stared down the road to see the newly repaired SUV come towards them.

"That's my lift," he told Caiera, who stuck her head out from underneath the car as the SUV drew to a halt. "Do you want me to introduce you?"

"That'd be nice."

Caiera dragged herself out from under the vehicle and tried to wipe away at a smear of oil that had appeared on her overall.

Ianto went over to the SUV and a window rolled down to reveal Jack and Gwen in the front seats.

"Is that your new neighbour, Ianto?" Gwen asked, turning her attention to the woman on the driveway as she approached.

"Ianto said he'd introduce me, finally. I've been itching to meet you special ops lot for the last few days."

"What exactly has Ianto said about us?" Gwen asked, trying to hide her surprise.

"That you're special ops, and that's it. He doesn't talk about it much if I'm brutally honest, but saying that he lets me do almost all of the talking when we're having a natter... and I've never said natter before and I don't intend to again."

Jack and Gwen laughed.

"He's mentioned names though, so that would make you, sir, Captain Jack Harkness," Caiera said, reaching through the window to shake his hand. "One thing Ianto can't seem to shut up about is you." Jack smiled and Gwen tittered, whilst Ianto lowered his head in embarrassment. "And then that would make you... Gwen Cooper."

"Yes," Gwen said, shaking her hand in turn, "and your name would be...?"

"Caiera Messaline."

"Though Dr. Caiera Messaline would be more accurate, wouldn't it?" Jack said.

"Has Ianto been nattering about me... and there I go again."

"He's mentioned you," Jack replied. "So what exactly is wrong with the car?"

"Some incredibly thick person has basically destroyed half of the engine," Caiera explained. "The spark plugs are going to take all afternoon if they're as bad as the brake cable."

Jack caught Ianto's eye and gave him a meaningful look. Ianto nodded.

"I'll see you sometime soon then?" Caiera asked Ianto.

"More than likely. Thanks for offering to fix it by the way."

"No problem. Oh, but Ianto I'll need your key, if that's alright?"

Ianto dug out his keys again and unhooked the one for the car from the rest.

"Thanks again," he muttered, clambering into the back of the SUV.

"Nice meeting you two," Caiera said to Gwen and Jack.

"Likewise," Jack said. Gwen smiled at her.

Jack then pulled away from the curb and began to drive towards the Hub. He looked at Ianto in the back through the mirror.

"I know what you're thinking," Ianto said. "The alien did it."

"What?" Gwen asked.

"If Ianto's car was wrecked by who we think it was then this is only the beginning," Jack explained. "It also means that it's on to us."

"And here was me thinking that I'd have a nice quiet birthday," Gwen muttered.

"WHAT!" Jack and Ianto shouted simultaneously.

"Give over guys; it's not that much of a deal."

"Your birthday's today?" Jack asked, shocked.

"No, it's on the weekend, which reminds me, I need to talk to you about having the weekend off. Rhys wants to have a surprise party at a hotel in the Forest of Dean."

"Not much of a surprise if you know about it."

"Don't be mean, he may be bad at concealing the fact that he plans a party every year because I can hear him talking to Banana, but he puts a lot of effort into it; and by the way, you're all invited."

"Thanks Gwen," Ianto said.

* * *

Owen stared from where he was examining mutilated alien remains towards the ship that had been annoying him for the last week before turning back to his work. He had tried literally everything but none of it had worked to make the thing open. He had also sent off samples of the ship to UNIT to see if their database had any idea what it was made of because Torchwood's databases had nothing on the unknown material.

"What exactly is that?"

Looking up, he saw Gwen leaning against the railing above him, staring at the remains in disgust.

"This was the Hoix we tracked yesterday. I think it tried to be overconfident and ended up landing itself in some sort of radioactive waste. It would explain why it's sort of fried to death but I'm still testing for alpha particles. What took you so long to get here?"

"We had to get Ianto as well. Someone ruined his car. Jack reckons it's the alien that the ship belongs to."

"Oh great. So is this alien trying to use scare tactics on us to make us give the ship up?"

"No idea. All we can do is keep a close eye out on things."

Owen shrugged his shoulders and returned to examining the dead Hoix before he realised that Gwen hadn't moved.

"Is there anything else you need to discuss with me, Gwen, before I start to do the really nasty business?"

"I just wanted to let you know that you're invited to my birthday party this weekend."

"Are you sure about that? No offence, right, but I still remember what happened at your wedding."

"Yes, I think we all do but it's in the Forest of Dean and not Cardiff this time."

"Alright, then I'll come along but, please Gwen, don't blame me if I'm as cynical as always."

"Not funny, Owen."

The doctor shrugged again and smiled slightly and Gwen turned around and walked back to the computers. Tosh looked around from her seat and smiled.

"Thanks for inviting us," she said.

"Don't mention it."

"Completely on a different subject, I heard you met Ianto's new neighbour that he keeps talking about?"

"Yes, I did."

"Is she nice?"

"She seems lovely." However, Tosh could tell that there was something else that was bothering Gwen about Ianto's neighbour.

"There's something else, isn't there?"

Gwen sighed. "How come you can see through me?"

"We've known each other for a while now; I can tell when something's not right."

"There was something else. In Caiera's eyes. It was as if she had seen the world end and they seemed far too wise for her years. She looked lost, Tosh, despite all of the good humour and happiness. It was as if I was looking at the end of time itself, the entire of reality gone to chaos."

"And Ianto and Jack didn't notice this."

"It never really showed when she spoke to Ianto. She seems happier to have a friend. And Jack couldn't really see because he was on the other side of the SUV but I bet he'd see it to if he was in my position."

"How long did it take you to deduce this?"

"Barely a few seconds. It seemed so obvious to me and I felt so sorry for her."

"What do you think happened to her?"

"I don't know, Tosh, I really don't know."

"You really don't know what?" Jack's voice said behind them, walking down the stairs.

"We're discussing what Tosh should wear for the party," Gwen lied, smoothly.

"Tosh, if you want my opinion," Owen called from the autopsy room, "wear that dress you wore at Gwen's wedding."

"Do you think?" Tosh called back.

"As I said, drop dead gorgeous."

Tosh blushed slightly and Jack rolled his eyes before leaving the two women alone, both watching until they were sure that he had entered his office.

"So, apart from the whole chaos thing in her eyes, what is this Caiera actually like?" Tosh asked.

"She seems slightly eccentric, but in a good way, and... well I only saw her for a few minutes so I'm not too sure."

"Even if you did manage to get all of that from her eyes?"

"She didn't say much before we left. I think she'd have a lot more to say given the chance. But she was easy to laugh with and I think she was trying to fix Ianto's car for him."

"I thought she was a doctor?"

"Well, is it weird if you can fix a car as well as people?"

"I guess not."

"Oh God!" they heard Owen suddenly call from where he was still examining the mutilated Hoix.

"What is it?" Tosh asked as the two ran over to the autopsy room. Jack came out of his office and stood behind the two and Ianto from where he had been making coffee.

"You know we all thought that our friend here fell into some radioactive waste after we lost it," Owen said. Everyone nodded. "Well, he didn't."

"I'm sorry?" Jack asked, frowning.

"I've just done a scan for alpha _and_ beta particles and it registered nothing. No radioactivity whatsoever, meaning that he managed to climb out of that vat because he'd never been in there."

"So, he was killed by something and burnt by someone else?" Ianto asked.

"Close but I don't think he was burnt by fire. There are no cinders or burns or even gasoline, it's just all mutilated remains that looks like the surface of a desert, which could pass a radioactivity burns except they aren't, which suggests..." He looked at them, his eyebrows raised.

"Alien activity," Gwen finished.

"And quite possibly the one we're looking out for."

"Okay," Jack said, "let's just say that you're right, Owen, and that the alien responsible for this is the one who wants their spaceship from us, then why are they going around and murdering a Hoix?"

"It could have known we were tracking it," Ianto commented, "and it could have got it out of the way so it would be the only thing we'd be concentrating on. Maybe it wants to be found?"

"We can't be certain, though," Tosh said. "There could be a number of reasons for this."

"None of it adds up though," Gwen mused. "A spaceship that is too small to fit any life in it crashes outside the city; there's a breach in the Rift, which suggests that someone may have gone back through if the ship hadn't arrived; and a dead Hoix who looks like it's been killed due to radioactivity but it hasn't. The only thing that makes sense is that an alien wants its ship back and it's possibly prepared to do anything to get it."

"And that just makes me even more confused," Owen said, shaking his head.

* * *

Ianto climbed out of the car and turned back to face Jack and Gwen.

"Thanks for dropping me off," he said.

"Don't worry, it's fine," Jack told him. "I wonder how Caiera's done with your car."

"I finished if you must know," a voice said behind them. They all looked around to see Caiera standing behind them. "It wasn't as bad as we first thought so it should be up and running tomorrow, unless your friend decides to come back and ruin it again."

"Thanks," Ianto said, smiling. "I thought you were at work."

"I'm not starting for another hour or so and it's only a twenty minute walk. Anyway, do you three want to come in for a tea? I've just put the kettle on as it is."

"I don't see why not," Jack said, exiting the SUV, Gwen doing the same.

"So does anyone here drink herbal or want anything in particular?" Caiera asked as they went into her house. "Oh yeah, sorry for the mess, I'm still unpacking but it's tidier in the living room."

"I think you should take our word for it when we say you should see our work area," Gwen said, "especially after Owen forgets to clear up his pizzas."

"Nice."

The young woman led the three into the living room and they sat down as she disappeared into the kitchen next door to make them a cup of tea each.

Looking around, they saw the piano in the far corner, though Ianto wondered at how Caiera had managed to get it inside the house. Apart from the sofa they were sitting on, the only other chair was a single comfy chair to their right, not including the stool by a bookshelf. There was an electric fireplace built into the wall opposite them and there was a basket at its base, with two lumps of fur lying in it.

"Oh, cute," Gwen said, going over to the two kittens, who stared up at her with wide eyes. One was a tiny little ginger with short hair and the other was a longed haired black. Both of the men had to admit that Gwen's statement was correct- they were adorable. As they watched, Gwen began to pet them and they purred gently, the quiet rumbling noises carrying across the room.

"The black is Lara and the ginger's Cline," Caiera said, coming back into the room with a tray of tea and looking fondly at her kittens. "Help yourselves."

Before Gwen could go back to her seat, she caught sight of a number of photos on the mantelpiece. One showed a younger Caiera with a blond woman and another with just the blond.

"Who's this?" she asked, pointing at the photo.

Caiera looked up at the photo and Gwen immediately saw the storm in the girl's eyes that she had mentioned to Tosh earlier.

"She's my mother," Caiera whispered. "That photo was taken a long time ago." They all noticed her grip on her cup tightening.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been prying," Gwen apologised, quickly returning to her seat.

"It doesn't matter, it's not your fault and there's nothing wrong with an inquisitive mind."

"Did you fall out?" Jack asked, frowning as Caiera continued to look uncomfortable, but at this, she cringed.

"No... I... I lost her."

Gwen shot a scathing look at Jack. Caiera's eyes had once more been filled with the 'end of the world' look Gwen had spotted earlier.

"I'm sorry," Ianto muttered, placing his cup on the wooden table.

"Don't be, it's not as if you were the bastard that did it."

"She was murdered?"

"A mugging gone horribly wrong. Nobody ever managed to catch the person and they gave up when he'd apparently vanished off the face of the earth. But I always tell myself that I'll find him one day."

"Would you kill him?" Jack queried.

"No, I don't believe that killing solves anything. I just want to know why he did it and have him locked up so that he wouldn't be able to do it again." She coughed delicately. "Anyway... who wants to discuss that meteor last week? The news people were spouting all sorts of rumours that I personally think are ridiculous. The only one that sounded right for Earth is an alien invasion and it's as if the planet nearly has been overrun about a million times... well less than that... well only a few, but still."

"My husband said that there was some drug released into the water to make everyone hallucinate," Gwen said.

"Oh, people would put it down to drugs or some shenanigans like that; and that's also another word I don't recall ever saying either. I reckon that there is life out there but the ones that aren't bent on ruling the universe stay away because they see us as being too primitive."

Ianto, Jack and Gwen found themselves intrigued and worried about the woman's views. It was scary as to how close Caiera was to the actual truth about aliens but it also reminded Gwen and Jack about what Suzie had said before she had shot herself through the head.

"But, thinking about it, I don't reckon we're that bad," Caiera continued. "Alright, we have all of these weapons that could destroy us all at least twenty times over, but look at what some people have achieved- rockets, satellites and I distinctly remember that hospital that was supposedly transported to the Moon. All of this accomplished before or after the beginning of the twenty-first century, and I reckon this is when it's all going to change."

Gwen and Ianto started at this and stared at Jack, momentarily forgetting that this was in front of somebody who had no idea about Torchwood.

"Was it something I said?" Caiera asked, placing her cup on the table as the ginger kitten jumped up onto her lap.

"Sorry, it's just that Jack's said something vaguely like that," Ianto explained.

"What exactly did you say?"

Jack pondered for a few moments, wondering how he was going to put it into context without giving away that he, Gwen, Ianto, Tosh and Owen dealt with aliens on a daily basis.

"I sometimes say that the twenty-first century is when everything changes, and you've gotta be ready," Jack said, blandly.

"That's a good metaphor, which we could all do with considering global warming, et cetera. Do you want some biscuits? I personally think that you should have biscuits with a cuppa so you don't feel hungry afterwards."

"I think we're alright," Gwen said. Caiera shrugged.

"So does this mean I haven't met Owen... and Toshiko yet?" she asked Ianto.

"Yes."

"You should invite them round for some tea as well. You lot are the first people who have actually bothered to attempt a conversation with me. I can see why, I sometimes can't shut up."

"Don't you at least talk to people at the hospital?"

"Yeah, but I'm not much of a social butterfly at the best of times; and then, as I said, I won't shut up. Gives most a headache after a while." She chuckled to herself. "But some of my colleagues at the hospital are alright but there seem to be more accidents these days than you can count and you find yourself unable to get to know more people. It's sad really." She scratched behind her and spotted the expressions on the three's faces. "Don't look like that; I'm not looking for pity, it's just me going off at a hundred miles an hour... possibly more."

Jack snorted and Ianto tried to gulp down some tea without smiling, which would have caused half of the contents of his cup to spill onto his suit.

Caiera suddenly jumped up and swore.

"Ah, I'm afraid I've got to get ready. This is what happens when you have a nice time, it seems to fly by."

"And that would be our cue to leave," Jack said, finishing his tea and looking at the other two. "We'll let you get on."

"Well it was nice to see you again," Caiera said, holding her hand out for him to shake. He took it and she then offered it to Gwen. "I'll hopefully see you around."

"Thanks for the tea," Gwen said.

"No problem. I've been on the receiving end of Ianto's coffee and I must confess it's nowhere near as good- it's only PG tips." She led them to the door and held the door open for them. "Oh Ianto, you may want this."

The Welshman turned back to face her at the same moment she threw him his car key.

"Thanks again."

"Anytime, I'm sure you'd do the same for me, but you may want to leave it for a day so that some welding I did can set properly. Well, sorry, must dash. Work and stuff like that."

Caiera gently closed the door, leaving the three standing in the driveway.

"Well that was nice," Jack commented. "But I have a question; what's the deal with her eyes?"

"What's wrong with her eyes," Ianto asked defensively.

"I noticed it this morning," Gwen admitted. "I thought it looked as if the universe was coming to an end. Is that what you got?"

"Yeah," Jack admitted. "I mean no offence because she's a great girl for someone we only met today, but she looks as if she's seen far too much."

"You don't think it's possible she was there when her mother was murdered?" Ianto muttered, looking back at Caiera's door.

"You never know." Jack heaved a sigh. "We'd better get going Gwen, or Rhys will be doing his nut about where you are. I'll see you in a bit, Ianto."

Ianto's frown turned into a grin as he caught Jack's eye and he nodded, pulling out his keys.

To none of their knowledge, behind a closed door a young woman leant against a wall in the dark and sobbed as she clutched at a photo frame. She slowly slid down the wall and continued to cry.


	4. Nightmare

**Chapter 4: Nightmare**

Jack was awoken by the sound of his mobile going off. Hurrying to pick it up, so that the noise wouldn't wake Ianto, the captain left the bedroom and wandered into the bathroom before answering the phone.

"Owen?"

"_Sorry to bother your beauty sleep but we have a problem_. _Some CCTV footage came through showing a couple of Weevils walking around the city's edge. I know it's too early for many people to be up but... well you can't exactly say we should take the risk_."

"I thought Tosh was with you tonight."

"_Nah, I sent her home after she fell asleep at her computer; this thing with the meteor's left her running on nothing."_

"Good on you. So where are they?"

"_Uh... about ten minutes south east from where you currently are... if you're still with Ianto, that is_."

"Yes I am. I'll see you in a minute then, unless I catch them both before you even get there."

"Funny, Jack." The phone went dead on the other end.

Creeping back into the bedroom, Jack quietly gathered his clothes together and shoved them out of the door. He then went back over to the bed and pulled the messy sheet straight and so it was mainly huddled around the sleeping form on the left. Surprised that Ianto hadn't woken when he had rushed out, Jack left again as quickly as he could without making the floor creek. He then went into the bathroom and pulled his clothes back on. Afterwards, he went downstairs and scribbled Ianto a note.

_Ianto,_

_Got a call from Owen- Weevils on the loose. Have gone to take care of it with him._

_See you later,_

_Jack_

Within the next minute, Jack had leapt into the SUV and was driving as fast as he dared to allow himself. He reached the destination within five minutes and was surprised to see that Owen was just pulling up himself.

"How did you get here so fast?" Jack asked, incredulously.

"Unlike you, it seems, I didn't stick to the speed limit," Owen explained.

"If you get a fine, don't come crying to me."

There was a sudden roaring from somewhere near there right, which was then answered by an identical call coming from behind them.

"Split up," Jack muttered and headed off towards where the Weevil on the right had howled. Owen grimaced and went the other way.

Trying to be as light on his feet as he could, Owen almost glided through a deserted alleyway until he came upon a small park, which was lit by one or two streetlamps. There was the unmistakable shape of a hunchbacked being stood somewhere in the middle, partially illuminated by the dim light.

Owen then thought he could hear footsteps coming from the other side of the park but, after a moment, he thought he was mistaken. The doctor edged his way through the park gate and began to sneak up on the still and silent Weevil.

But then, to his horror, the Weevil let out a ferocious growl and began to slink towards the other gate that led into the park. Looking up, Owen saw the shape of another person walking past the iron stands.

"Shit," he muttered, running forwards.

The person appeared to be a young woman, who apparently didn't notice the danger, right up until the moment when the Weevil growled again. The woman stopped in her tracks and Owen could hear her panicked breathing as she beheld the creature that was moving towards her.

"Hey!" Owen shouted, causing the alien to spin around and back, obviously trying to choose the choicest target. Owen could tell that it remained indecisive.

"Just stay still," he muttered to the woman.

"Until it chooses and rips one of our throats out. I really do not like those odds, they always annoy me."

"Do you really think this is the time to be saying what annoys you?"

"Hardly."

To Owen's shock, the woman jumped into the air and performed a perfect scissor kick, disorientating the Weevil. However, it only remained that way for a few seconds. As the woman held her stance, the Weevil lunged at her and the woman moved. But she wasn't quick enough. The Weevil's extended claw caught her arm and she yelled in pain and clutched at her injury.

Cursing, Owen practically threw himself on top of the Weevil, which seemed to pacify it as it sensed what Owen was. This allowed Owen to sedate it.

"What the bloody hell do you think you were playing at?" he shouted at the woman.

"I didn't move quick enough, that's all. I would have been fine if I hadn't misjudged it speed."

"Misjudged its speed! It was idiotic enough for you to even attempt to do that. You should have stayed still like I told you."

"Alright, no need to be all high and mighty. I just did something before it went for either of us. I didn't personally like the idea of it going for you and then I'm trying to keep you alive whilst fighting it off, and I don't think you would have liked that if it had been vice versa." She suddenly hissed and peered back down at her arm, which had streams of blood dribbling off of it.

"Let me have a look at that," Owen said, calming down enough to not sound angry, though on the inside he was furious, mainly at himself for nearly not preventing the loss of human life. He reached inside his medical kit and pulled out a bandage sleeve. The woman let him slip it over her wound.

"I'm okay, I've had a lot worse. I'll just stitch it up when I get home."

"Do you actually know how to stitch wounds like that?"

"I should, I am a doctor."

Owen froze at this and began to study the girl's features. They fitted exactly how Ianto had described her, pretty, brown hair that was a bit of a mess, piercing blue eyes and an athletic build.

"Sorry, but your name isn't Caiera Messaline by any chance?"

"Yes... How did you know?"

"Ianto may have mentioned me, I'm Owen Harper."

"Oh. Well it's nice to finally meet you." She held out her hand for him to shake but flinched as pain shot up her other arm. "I take it you were looking for that thing?"

"Yeah."

"Are you going to tell me what it is? Then again, I don't think I want to know; and besides I know that special ops can't disclose anything unless they and the person they blab to want shooting."

Owen sniggered in agreement.

"Do you want some painkillers for that?" Owen asked.

"No, as I said, I'll stitch it when I get home. Tell you what though, I could do with a drink but then none of the pubs will be open this early in the morning. Do you want one back at my place? You could take Ianto to work. I had to weld parts of his car back together, and it's still setting."

"I'm afraid I'm on a no drink diet, but I'll come anyway. You may need to be rushed to A&E."

Owen then led Caiera back to his car and pulled out his phone.

"Yeah, hello Jack... I've sedated it in a park about two hundred yards south from where we split up... Well, let's just say I bumped into Ianto's new neighbour... I'll explain later, I'm taking her home just in case she faints whilst walking... Okay, I'll see you there."

He slid into his car and started the engine.

"This is slightly weird," Caiera muttered.

"Sorry?"

"I was told never to get in a car with a stranger... but then again, you're not much of a stranger. I've only ever heard Ianto speak highly of you."

"Thanks." Owen didn't know if he should feel grateful or nonplussed at the comment. He was always quick to throw Ianto a playful insult and he knew that it sometimes offended the man.

"So why were you walking?" he asked, as they pulled out onto a main road.

"My house is only twenty minutes from the hospital so I thought I'd walk to save petrol, oil and the planet. These fuels aren't going to last forever."

Owen nodded absent-mindedly.

"So what was your first case like as a doctor?" Caiera asked. Owen shuddered.

"Some poor girl had had her heart torn out of her chest. We never found out what happened."

"Okay, that is...exceptionally gross."

"What was yours?"

"A man who'd been in a traffic collision. We... we did all we could but it wasn't good enough. I thought I wanted to give up right then and there. But I didn't. There are millions of people we can still help...anyway."

Caiera settled for silence and stared out of the car window as the horizon began to glimmer a faint gold and pink colour, the streetlights becoming duller as the sun began to rise. Within the next five minutes, they had arrived outside Caiera and Ianto's houses.

"Thanks," Caiera muttered. The pair got out of the car and Caiera led them into her house, where Owen was immediately bombarded by the two kittens. "They like you."

Owen couldn't help but smile as he picked up the small black creature off of the floor. The kitten gazed at him with wide greenish yellow eyes. He was surprised- most creatures tended to avoid him now because they could smell the living dead. Looking to see where Caiera had gone, he saw her standing in the doorway with a beer in her hand.

"I personally can't stand wine or champagne; something in those drinks just doesn't taste right at all," Caiera said, rambling. Ianto had told them that this was one of her special characteristics; however, Owen's colleague had made it clear that it wasn't a detracting factor. "So were you the only one looking for that thing?"

"No, Jack went looking as well. He's clearing up and then he'll come round."

"I'm not going to be drugged am I for only seeing it? I know it sounds like I've been watching too much science-fiction but you never know."

"I don't think you will. That's not how we operate." Owen was loathe to tell her that there wasn't any need because she had no idea that what had attacked was an alien. If he did then she would definitely have to be Retconed.

"Good. Now, where's that first aid kit," she muttered to herself. She crouched underneath the sink and drew out a needle and some thread and began to sew her arm back together, once she had taken the sleeve off.

"So do you think you could take Ianto in to wherever you work?" Caiera asked after a minute. "I told him that he should probably leave his car alone for the day- heaven forbid if a cylinder fell out or something like that."

Owen glanced at the clock on the wall. "That shouldn't be a problem, considering that it is nearly time for the tea boy to get out of bed."

Caiera raised her eyebrow, causing Owen to grimace."Tea boy?"

"Yeah, I generally call him that because he's the one that makes the best coffees."

"Now, I can agree with you there."

The doorbell suddenly rang and Owen went to open it and found Jack standing in the drive, looking at Ianto's house.

"Is he even up yet?" Jack wondered. "He'll be late if he's not careful."

"Don't worry, I have strict instructions from this young lady here to chauffer him to work," Owen said, putting on a sarcastic snobbish accent. Behind him, Caiera rolled her eyes.

"What happened to you?" Jack asked, spotting Caiera's arm, which was once more in the sleeve. Spots of blood were already beginning to show.

"She only went and scissor-kicked the thing," Owen explained.

Jack stared at Caiera in outright horror. "You're incredibly lucky."

"It didn't know which of us to have, so I just went for it."

"How the hell do you know if it couldn't decide?" Owen exclaimed.

"The hesitancy gave it away."

"Well let's make sure nothing like that ever happens again," Jack cut in. "If I were you, Caiera, whenever you do the night shift don't walk. There are all sorts on the streets between dusk and dawn."

"Speaking of today, which leads on from dawn, I've got a car that needs checking," Caiera said, changing the subject and reaching behind her door for a toolbox.

"Do you ever rest?"

"Only when I need to. I've had quite a lot of practice... well, a bit... well, really not that much. However, something tells me that you can't afford to keep picking Ianto up every single day. Speaking of the devil, he should be up by now. It's nearly six o'clock and I get home just as his light goes on- he's very punctual, bless him."

As if on cue, from an open window, there came a sudden moan, which was followed by a yelp of fear. The three looked at each other and immediately rushed towards Ianto's door.

"IANTO!" Jack yelled, banging on the front door. Caiera made a futile attempt to open the door by furiously shaking the handle. Upstairs, the moaning and yelping continued.

"Oh give over," Caiera hissed as their efforts continued to fail. "I'll try round the back."

She disappeared and the two men once more tried to bang the door open as Ianto's cries began to border on insanity. Jack hoped that someone wasn't hurting him.

The door suddenly unlocked and they pushed the door open and launched themselves up the stairs.

"You should have checked him before you let us in," Jack called back down to Caiera.

"Sorry, I don't think Ianto would have appreciated it if you'd bust down his door."

They burst into the bedroom to see Ianto tossing around and tangling himself in the bed sheets. His entire body was sweating feverishly and moans continued to escape from his lips as his half open eyes rolled wildly in their sockets, mostly showing their whites.

"Ianto?" Caiera said, reaching for his forehead. "Oh God! We need to wake him up now." She began to pat his face gently but he remained unresponsive.

"Let me see him," Owen said. Caiera shook her head.

"Pass me a stethoscope," she said. "Haven't you got one in your bag?"

Admitting to himself that she was right, Owen pulled the object out and passed it to her. She and Jack then managed to untangle Ianto from the sheets and the latter held him down whilst Caiera placed the stethoscope against his chest.

"His heart's frantic. We really need to wake him up otherwise he may go into a full arrest."

"One minute," Owen said, running from the room. Caiera and Jack looked at each other in confusion but were distracted as Ianto continued to thrash around.

"You may want to move," Owen called as he rushed back in. The two only just got out of the way as Owen threw the contents of a cup he was carrying onto Ianto's face.

Ianto spluttered and seemed to come to. He sat bolt upright and stared around as he tried to regain his breath.

But then Caiera noticed the convulsion in his neck. She spotted some sort of fruit bowl on a table and grabbed it and held it in front of Ianto just a he wretched. Looking at the contents of the bowl, they were horrified to see that it consisted mainly of blood.

"Jesus," Owen muttered.

Ianto's armed wobbled and Jack only just caught him as he fell back onto the bed. The captain lowered the shaking body back, lying Ianto's head on the pillow and pulling the duvet back over him.

"What happened?" Ianto croaked.

"Some form of trauma," Caiera muttered. "Didn't you have that accident last week with the earth tremor the meteor caused?"

"Yeah. What does that mean?"

"You should have had more than one evening off work. This fit you were just having shows developing signs of head trauma, which can lead to hallucinations and mental breakdowns. You can even ask Owen if you're unsure."

"I think we believe you," Jack muttered.

"I'd say a lot of rest for about a week," Caiera explained. "No work and definitely no stress. Do you agree with me Owen?"

"You're doing fine- no need to ask me."

"Sorry, I thought I'd check with you because you've been doing this longer than I have. Back to the diagnosis...I think it would be better if we kept you sedated for a while, Ianto."

"What?"

"It would help, honest to God. Put it this way, it would help your nerves calm down because at the moment you look as jittery as a cricket."

Jack frowned at the comparison but he had to admit that she was sort of right. Ianto was still sweating and he was shaking, though it was mostly hidden by the blanket.

"Do you any anaesthetic?" Caiera asked Owen. "I can't exactly use what you did on that thing."

"What thing?" Ianto muttered, looking at the three of them in turn.

"Later," Jack told him.

Owen handed Caiera a syringe and a small bottle of anaesthetic. After carefully examining the bottle, the young woman unscrewed the lid and filled the syringe with the thick liquid. Owen meanwhile was swabbing the crook of Ianto's arm with some alcohol. Caiera then gently pricked Ianto's skin and injected him with the sedative.

The two doctors stood back and they and Jack watched as Ianto's eyes began to lose focus, followed by his eyelids drooping. Within the next minute, his breathing had levelled out and he was fast asleep.

Caiera sighed and rubbed the back of her head, looking at Owen.

"It's head trauma alright, but I have no idea why he was vomiting blood," she said, fearfully. "That would suggest internal bleeding."

"We checked for that," Owen explained, "but there was nothing there at all."

"There was nothing wrong with him apart from that nightmare he had last week," Jack added.

"Well... something tells me that he should spend possibly more than the next week off. It'd be a good thing if he had something to take his mind off whatever it is that's caused it," Caiera said

"Gwen has a birthday party this weekend," Owen mentioned.

"That'd be good. Don't mean to sound bossy, but you should make sure that nothing puts him under stress."

"We'll try, but knowing us that'll be impossible."

"You may want to make it possible otherwise we may find ourselves with a very dead Ianto."

"No need to panic guys," Jack said. "We just keep him away from work until he's alright. It's also lucky he has a resident doctor."

Caiera blanched. "Ah... That might be a problem... I let something slip at work the other day and I've been roped into this gig, party, whatever anyone wants to call it. We're leaving tomorrow so that we can set up."

"I take it you mean 'gig' as in music performance," Owen muttered.

"Sorry," Caiera muttered, blushing furiously.

"No problem," Jack said. "We're not that far from where we work if I'm honest. It'll be easy for us to keep an eye on him... So what instrument do you play?"

"Piano, but they're really hooking me in for the guitar and singing- their lead singer quit when he moved to Hawaii."

"Cool," Owen said. "You can sing, can't you?"

"I wouldn't be doing it if I couldn't. Still nowhere as good as... Mum was..." She hung her head. "Sorry, I need to go. I'll be back to check on him later." Caiera immediately jumped to her feet and sped out of the room. Both Jack and Owen heard the door slam behind her.

"She doesn't like talking about her mother, does she?" Owen mused, looking from the sleeping Ianto to Jack.

"She was pretty upset when we talked to her about it when we visited last night," Jack admitted.

* * *

Ianto groaned as he returned to consciousness. He didn't open his eyes; instead using his other senses to survey the situation. His entire body felt sore and his head kept throbbing. Fortunately he didn't have the urge to vomit. In the meantime, he forced himself to remain still and pokerfaced.

He let his nostrils twitch, taking in an intoxicating smell- Jack's pheromones as the captain himself had once put it- coupled with the scent of tea. The mixture soothed Ianto. The Welshman could feel that his head was resting on a very comfortable pillow, the duvet tucked closely around him, keeping the heat in his body. He could also hear both of them drawing deep breaths, in and out, in and out, Ianto using Jack's breathing pattern to steady his. There was the occasional sound of a bird, echoing through the window.

Ianto took a moment to take all of this in, and that was when he remembered. The nightmare he had had was all but erased from his memory, but he could recall waking up to look into Jack's fearful expression as well as Owen and Caiera's. He had then brought up a lot of blood and the last thing he could recollect was Caiera sedating him.

He twitched suddenly, which wasn't a good idea at all as he felt a fresh wave of pain course through him. He couldn't help but groaning, his brow creasing. Ianto immediately felt a hand on his shoulder. Sighing heavily, Ianto slowly opened his eyes and gazed up, blearily.

Jack was gazing down at him, his expression unfathomable, though Ianto could see the dip in his eyebrows. Ianto forced his mouth into a half-hearted smile, blinking slowly.

"Hi," Ianto croaked, as he tried to sit up. He gave a ragged cough, his throat blazing.

Jack immediately brought a glass of water to Ianto's lips and the latter drank thirstily, taking deep breaths in between.

"Are you feeling alright?" Jack asked, in clearly worried tone.

"I don't know why, but I feel a bit tender. It's nothing though."

"I wouldn't say that. You were flinching a second ago."

Ianto sighed and peered out of the window where he could just about see the sun rising over the city of Cardiff, casting pale yellow glow over the buildings. "How long have I been out?"

Jack rolled his eyes but didn't say what he was thinking. "Over twenty-four hours; it's nearly eight o'clock. Are you hungry?"

"I could eat an elephant."

"Okay, give me ten minutes."

Jack laid Ianto back down on the bed and rushed downstairs to the kitchen where he scoured the shelves for ingredients for an all day breakfast- Ianto had gone without eating for a full day and Jack had recently been trying to get him to eat more. He had barely turned the frying pan on when he heard footsteps descend the stairs and Ianto, wearing a deep blue dressing gown, poked his head through the door.

"You should be resting," Jack exclaimed, sending Ianto a sarcastic scowl.

"I'm not about to let you loose in the kitchen. I'd prefer to keep my house standing, thank you very much."

"Hey, I can cook."

"If you count toast as cooking. I haven't forgotten when I went to get gravy mix, leaving you alone to prepare a roast- maybe not a good idea after dealing with a Weevil. The chicken was reduced to cinders by the time I got back. Next thing we know, you'll be dancing around because some oil spat in your face."

"It wouldn't hurt for that long- fast healer, remember."

"You'd still be dancing around, shrieking as well."

"Shrieking? I'm not a little girl, thank you."

"No, you're an old maid."

Jack couldn't help but laugh, giving Ianto enough time to start on the cooking himself.

"What did you do all day?" the Welshman asked, jabbing at the bacon that was now sizzling away. "You weren't with me all of the time, were you?"

"Apart from when I had to go to the bathroom."

"Jack, you didn't have to. What if something had come through the Rift?"

"Then the others were willing to deal with it. Owen went in and told the Gwen and Tosh what had happened and they were all on the phone before midday- they hope you get better soon, by the way- and I explained that I wouldn't be leaving you until you were conscious. Owen may not be the liveliest person anymore, but he was pretty shaken. All three of us were."

"Speaking of which, is Caiera alright?"

"I think so. She called about an hour ago to check if you were conscious yet. She would have come to check on you, but she's had to leave- something about a gig that she got pulled into. Maybe I should call her and the others to let them know that you're awake and making breakfast. Luckily, Caiera left both of us her number otherwise we'd have no way to contact her."

"Well, I do have her e-mail."

"Just as good. Hey, Ianto, can I use the shower?"

"Sure- especially if you haven't had one for the last twenty hours or so. I'll get on with this. Is black pudding alright?"

"God yes. I'll be back in a mo."

Jack rushed up the stairs, determined to finish with the shower as quickly as possible so that Ianto was left alone for too long in case he collapsed. He almost ripped his clothes off and jumped under the freezing cold water, which would have bothered him in another situation, but now Jack couldn't care less if the water was as hot as the sun.

However, he need not have worried. As he rushed back downstairs, he could hear the radio playing quietly in the background with Ianto singing along whilst he sorted out their breakfast. Jack was always quick to say that Ianto had a talent for singing, which had surprised him at first when he'd heard Ianto chanting along with 'Ain't No Sunshine' as he made coffee at the Hub. Right now, 'Run' by Snow Patrol was playing and Jack grinned as he watched Ianto bob up and down to the music, flipping two fried eggs and onto a plate each, both already filled with food.

"You didn't have to do all of this," Jack said, catching Ianto by surprise. The Welshman dropped the spatula onto the kitchen unit next to him, spinning around.

"Did you hear me?"

"Yes, and it was excellent as usual."

Ianto blushed at the compliment, hiding his pleasure by placing the two plates onto the small table. "Coffee?"

"I thought you'd never ask. Only if you're up to it though."

"There's nothing wrong with me now. I feel fine- it was probably a one off." Ianto went over to his highly complicated coffee machine and pulled out two mugs from the nearby cupboard.

"Ianto, you cannot call that a one off," Jack argued, though in a soothing tone. "You had a fit and vomited blood for God's sake."

"I what?"

"Didn't you realise that you had a fit? That's why Owen had to throw water over you."

"I wondered why I was a bit wet. You dried me off, I take it."

"Yeah, which was a lot trickier than some might give credit. It was a nightmare trying not to jostle you too much."

"Sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault. I should have given you more time off work then this may have never happened. You could have died!"

Ianto gave Jack a reassuring smile. "I didn't though. There's no need to worry about that now. I'm not dead, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere either. Who would cook you food if I wasn't here; you'd be living off pizza for the rest of eternity."

Despite himself, Jack snorted

"I have a question," Ianto muttered. "Why was Owen here?"

"Ah," Jack said, gulping. "Well, whilst you were still asleep, Owen called me because there was a Weevil running around nearby, so the pair of us went to deal with it to. Only we didn't have to."

"What?"

"Caiera got there first from what Owen said. She was walking home and she used a scissor-kick on it. Owen than managed to sedate it- that's what we meant by 'thing'. Luckily Caiera doesn't have a clue about what it is, and she doesn't want to know either, which is lucky for us- I hate having to keep on issuing Retcon; we'll run out if we're not careful and it isn't exactly cheap. However, the Weevil's claws caught Caiera's arm so Owen escorted her home where she stitched herself up."

"She didn't even go into shock or anything?"

"No, she seemed to barely notice it. Mind you, she was too busy trying to wake you up."

"Remind me to apologise when she gets back."

"We'll probably be away then anyway- Gwen's party, remember."

"Do you think the Rift will be okay?"

"Nothing has come through in the last week or two. All that's been wrong with it is that hole that somebody kept open for six months. You never know, it may need time to gain enough energy so that it'll be able to cause trouble."

"Well, I hope you're right, otherwise we'll be running back to Cardiff and Gwen won't be happy."

"Uh, Ianto, before I forget, I'm giving you another week off of work, and if that does happen then I think that you should stay behind."

Ianto frowned. "Why?"

"Caiera and Owen. They've prescribed another week of rest and relaxation, so that means no coming to the Hub I'm afraid."

"I can't stay at home until Saturday. I'll have died from boredom."

"I'm not about to leave you alone for the next few days. I'll be around every evening, I promise. Alright?"

"Every evening?"

"I did just promise, didn't I?"

Ianto grinned at him, but then cussed as the coffee machine let out an ear-splitting noise. He rushed over and quickly turned the machine off and then began to pour the pair of them a drink. "That could have been a disaster."

"And you scolded me for burning the chicken."

"Chicken and coffee are two very different things."

Jack gave up and started on a sausage, but he couldn't help sending Ianto a smile as he sat down opposite him. "Thanks for the breakfast."

"It is my fault that you've gone a whole day without anything to eat."

"Hey, it's not as if I'd die within the day. Even if I did, you know what would happen."

Ianto sighed, digging into his fried tomato, looking through of the window out of the corner of his eye. The sun had fully risen now and Ianto could tell that it was going to be a beautiful day. Sighing to himself, Ianto began to plan what he would do whilst invalided at home.


	5. Party

**Chapter 5: Party**

Owen slammed the boot of Tosh's car down, making sure that no straps were poking out through the gap. "I think we're all set to go." He walked around to the door of the front passenger seat.

Jack and Ianto were already in the back and Tosh was just walking out of the block of flats that she lived in. It was Saturday and the group had back overnight bags for their time in the Forest of Dean. Gwen had already gone down with Rhys, having dropped the bombshell on him that she knew what he was planning. How he had not got annoyed at this, the rest of Torchwood hadn't the faintest clue.

They had decided to use Tosh's car because it had the largest boot space, and they didn't want to use the SUV because it would then be bringing the work along with them- something which would irritate both Rhys and Gwen. There had been enough trouble at their wedding.

All of them were dressed smartly for the occasion, or rather Owen and Tosh had. Ianto was wearing the usually suit and Jack had refused to exchange his World War Two getup for a tuxedo. Owen, on the other hand, was wearing a tuxedo- Tosh said that he looked like a real gentleman. Tosh herself was wearing a dark green cocktail dress that hung from her shoulders and flared out at the bottom- she looked incredibly pretty.

"It's lucky I didn't have to pack much though," Owen muttered. "Tosh may have the bigger boot, but all of our bags took up almost all of the room. We wouldn't get everything in if I'd pack toiletries, etcetera."

"We could have put something in the back seat here in the middle," Ianto said, patting the almost vacant seat next to him. There was a number of wrapped parcels in between him and Jack.

"Nah, our stuff would crush Gwen's presents."

At that moment, Tosh sidled into the driver's seat and revved the engine into life.

"How long to the Forest of Dean?" Jack asked. "God help us if we're late."

"About an hour," Tosh replied; "and that's if the traffic doesn't hold up, which it probably will do when going over the Severn Bridge."

"Don't go over the Severn Bridge," Ianto suggested. "There's a sort of scenic route that leads through the back of the forest and there are no traffic lights or customs."

"I've never used that route before," Tosh admitted.

"Don't worry; I'll give you the directions."

Ianto then brought out a pencil and piece of paper from nowhere and scribbled on the roads and junctions that Tosh should take.

"Thanks, Ianto," she said.

Tosh then pulled away from the side of the road and the four began their journey towards Gwen's party, managing to miss most of the afternoon traffic of the main roads. There appeared to be no incidents on the motorway either.

"What do you think Rhys planned for the party?" Jack asked after about a quarter of an hour.

"Probably another DJ," Owen guessed. They all flinched, remembering what had happened to the DJ at Gwen's wedding.

"I think that that DJ was Rhys' friend," Tosh said. "He wouldn't want to insult his memory to hire someone else." The others had to admit that she had a point.

"Definitely two meals," Ianto added. "A meal for dinner and a more than likely buffet for breakfast."

"I think I might have to skip breakfast," Owen sighed. "I can only take seeing so much food at once."

The other three grimaced, feeling guilty and sad for Owen. They knew that it wasn't fair for him to be around food for that long without him going into a depressive mood- it had been alright when Gwen had returned from her honeymoon as they'd danced a lot more than they'd eaten.

"What am I going to do when we have dinner anyway?" Owen asked, scratching his forehead. "It'll look odd when I don't eat a single thing."

"Say you're on a special diet," Jack said.

"That'll make me sound like some sort of vampire."

"Vampires don't actually exist- they're more fish people with perception filters."

"Fish people?" the others exclaimed in unison.

"Well, vampire myth had to originate somewhere- mirrors and sucking blood and whatever else it is."

"I'm never eating sushi again," Tosh mumbled, grimacing.

Jack let out a laugh, but Ianto and Owen weren't sure if they found it amusing.

"Apart from food, what else could there be?" Jack queried.

"I researched the hotel we're all staying in," Ianto said. "There's a swimming pool, a games room, a gym and sauna, a bar, stables for anyone who wants a go at horse-riding and nature trails."

"That'll keep us busy," Tosh said, smiling. "I haven't ridden a horse in years."

"I never went near one," Owen murmured, looking embarrassed.

"You're scared of horses?" Jack asked.

"I just never liked going near one because I didn't like the thought of being trampled by the hooves. People have been killed before."

"I suppose walking around the forest could be fun," Tosh added.

"There are quite a few tourist attractions apart from the hotel," Ianto said. "There's a cycling centre somewhere."

"Did anyone bring a swimming kit?" Owen asked. "I didn't- I prefer the sound of the gym anyway."

"I thought swimming would be fun," Tosh said, "so I did."

"Same here," Ianto muttered; "and I told Jack to bring some trunks."

Owen's phone suddenly went off and he pulled it out of his pocket, flipping it open and tapping a few buttons.

"Who's that?" Tosh asked.

"UNIT," Owen replied. "I managed to chip off a small corner of the ship and I sent it to Martha. She got in touch with someone who would be able to analyse it. This person just sent me a text saying that the results should be in within a few days or so."

"That's good," Jack said. "Then we'll know what exactly it is that we're dealing with."

Another hour passed before they reached the hotel, the time during which they discussed the ship and the Rift.

They finally pulled up in an exquisite car park that was already filled with a number of cars. They could see a number of people that they recognised from the wedding walking towards the door that led to the foyer. The four of them picked up their presents and removed their bags from the back of the car and then trooped towards the door.

Walking through, they saw everyone making their way through to another, larger room. However, Rhys was standing in the foyer, greeting every new arrival. They could all swear that he was wearing the same suit he had worn for his wedding.

"Alright?" he said, shaking Owen's hand. "Gwen's been wondering where you lot have been- she's in our room at the mo, so I'll pop up in a sec. I'll take your presents as well, thank you very much. Blimey, you look nice, Tosh."

"Thank you," Tosh replied, blushing.

"By the way, you boys might want to look out for one of the band members that we booked. Banana, Dav and a few others have already tried to catch her eye. Not that I blame them, but I am happily married."

"A band?" Jack asked, shaking Rhys' hand. "What are they called?"

"Something French- _L'hôpital _I think."

"They called themselves 'the hospital'?" Owen said, frowning.

"Well, each to their own. Do you want me to show you to your rooms?"

"Yes please," Jack muttered.

Rhys then led them upstairs onto the second floor. Tosh had a room on the far right side of the building, Owen somewhere in the middle, and Ianto had a room next to Jack's somewhere near the left of the building. They had all spotted the gleam of mischief in Rhys' eyes when he had expressed that the two's rooms were next to each other- obviously he knew about Jack and Ianto's relationship.

They were just about to make their way downstairs when a door opened and they heard the flush of a toilet. Through the door stepped an all too familiar woman.

All five of them stared. The woman had her short, messy hair done up in a high ponytail, the fringe held back by a blue clip. She wore a halter-necked and deep, midnight blue dress that hung simply over her figure and went down to her knees, though this made her look even more graceful; her shoes were relatively high heeled, leathery black and strappy; and they noticed that she wore no makeup, which wasn't detracting in the slightest. It was Caiera.

Caiera did a double take when she saw them. "Ianto? What on earth are you doing here?" Despite her surprise, she gave a jovial laugh.

"It's Gwen's party," Ianto explained.

"You know each other?" Rhys asked, looking mildly surprised.

"Ianto's my next door neighbour, Rhys. You could have said that your wife is Gwen Cooper- I would look a right idiot singing happy birthday and not knowing the person's name. Right, I know Jack and Owen, hello by the way. So that must make you Toshiko Sato." She beamed at Tosh, who smiled back. "Nice to finally meet you. Does that mean I've met everyone?"

"Yep," Jack said. "Wait, you're the main singer in the band, aren't you?"

"Yeah, so excuse me if I go flat after a while. We're playing until midnight. No offence, but I need to go down. We're starting in a minute and Fred will throw a hissy fit if I'm late- he's the drummer."

Rhys led the group back downstairs, Jack, Ianto and Tosh behind him. Caiera, meanwhile, held Owen back.

"How's Ianto been?" she whispered, giving the others a furtive glance. "I'm sorry I had to take off when you could have used my help- I've been panicking on and off for the last few days."

"He's fine," Owen replied. "It was almost as if the throwing up blood didn't happen. I've done more checks but there's nothing I can find at all, therefore I have no idea what brought it on. Let's just be thankful that it doesn't look serious."

"Thanks Owen. Nice to see you again by the way."

"Likewise."

Caiera smiled and rushed down the stairs, breezing past the others and rushing into the room where all of the other guests were congregating. Owen chuckled to himself. Rhys had been right- the woman was receiving quite a number of stares, particularly from men.

When he reached the others, Tosh was waiting for him. Ianto and Jack had already gone in.

"What kept you?" she asked as they began to walk through to the other room.

"Caiera wanted to know how Ianto's doing," he replied, casting his gaze over to where the other two men were deep in conversation. "She was really worried- I could see it. That's very peculiar for someone who's only known him for a week or so."

"Ianto and Gwen did say that she got on well with them very quickly. I think Ianto mentioned that nobody was really on speaking terms with her at the hospital."

"Shame. I may sound mental for saying this, but she's a sweet girl. A bit eccentric, but sweet. She'll be chatting to you later, Tosh, mark my words. You could say she's slightly insane as well."

"Owen!"

"I'm just saying- she did take on that Weevil, for crying out loud. She was lucky to only escape with a scratch; it could have mauled her."

"You would have stopped it, I'm certain."

"Thanks Tosh. I think being 'the King of Weevils' helped as well. It became as docile as a puppy when it smelled what I am."

"You're still Owen no matter what you smell like."

Owen let out a bark of a laugh.

The sound of a guitar tuning suddenly rent the air and everyone went silent as they stared up at the stage where four people were standing, Caiera at the front. One, a man, was manning a DJ's deck at the back of the stage; next to him was another man on the drums; a woman who was sat at a piano; and just behind Caiera was yet another man with a bass guitar. Caiera was also holding a guitar, though this one was a cross between electric and acoustic.

"Afternoon everyone," she said, speaking in a microphone. "We'll get straight down to it, and apologies for any flat notes. A reminder from our host, Rhys- he says help yourself to drinks because they're free. Lucky for some- I won't even be able to have a beer until midnight and I've only got a twenty."

Some people laughed at this. Caiera then nodded her head and began to pluck the guitar strings. Owen recognised the song as 'This Is the Life' by Amy McDonald. To his surprise, Tosh dragged him onto the dance floor and began to sway from side to side with him, keeping to the beat of the music. Owen gulped. He hadn't danced with anyone since Diane... But that was in the past when such things mattered. This was Tosh and she was trying to help him enjoy being the undead. Looking around, Owen laughed when he saw Jack and Ianto doing a sort of two-step, slowly turning in a circle.

He also had to admit that the band were pretty good. Caiera was an excellent singer and the other members of the band played with precision, though it wasn't clinical at all. They all seemed to be enjoying it as much as everybody else.

When that song was finished, they were all surprised that the band didn't continue into the next song. Instead Caiera took a few deep breaths before speaking. "Right, can we clear the middle of the dance floor, please people. The birthday girl is about to enter the vicinity and I think she and her husband want a dance before she's swept up by all you lovely people who want to wish her happy birthday. Come on out Gwen and Rhys."

Everyone's heads turned to the room entrance where they saw Rhys and Gwen walking in. Gwen was wearing a strapless, deep purple dress that fell to her heels. It clung to her figure and the purple seemed to fade from top to bottom until it was a rosy purple-pink colour. Her hair was curled and hung loosely, bouncing whenever she moved. There were many sighs from the crowd.

Caiera grinned at Gwen when their eyes met, her smile widening as Gwen's expression became one of polite shock.

"Come one, make a space," Caiera called. "You can join in when the couple have had their moment."

Now everybody laughed and even Gwen and Rhys joined in.

The crowd gave the pair a wide berth, shrinking against the sides in a mass. Jack, Ianto, Owen and Tosh found themselves in danger of being squashed against the wall.

_L'hôpital_ then began to play 'Keep Holding On' by Avril Lavigne, and the crowd watched as Gwen and Rhys rotated on the spot, positively beaming with happiness. It was a much better atmosphere than the wedding, what with their not being any alien trying to rip them all apart. Gradually, most of the others began to join in with the dance.

"At least she hasn't been impregnated by alien spawn," Jack commented as the group watched from the sidelines.

"We won't have to Retcon everyone either," Ianto added.

"Don't speak too soon," Owen muttered, darkly. "Something's bound to go wrong; you mark my words."

"There's no need to be such a killjoy," Jack said, though in a teasing manner.

"Well, with our luck."

"Come on guys," Tosh interrupted. "It's Gwen's birthday. Let's not spoil it for her when she can be normal for one night- we can all be normal for the one night."

Looking over, they were all happy to see that Gwen was laughing and smiling as she danced with Rhys. The pair of them looked at ease with the world, as if Torchwood didn't exist.

The afternoon turned into evening, and they were all called into a separate room for dinner, which comprised of three courses. The Torchwood team were disappointed to learn that the band was eating separately from them- they had been looking forward to seeing Caiera.

Conversely, the four of them found themselves seated at the table that was next to the one where Gwen and her family sat. Taking their chance, they snuck over before the food was served.

"Thanks for coming," Gwen said, still grinning from ear to ear.

"As if we wouldn't," Jack said.

"And, oh my gosh, Tosh, you look lovely."

"Thanks Gwen."

"You don't look half as bad yourself," Owen teased.

Gwen blushed.

"We gave Rhys your presents," Ianto muttered.

"Oh God, you didn't have to."

"It wasn't a problem," Jack said. "Ianto seems to have a knack for knowing what to get people."

"Over a hundred years old and you still need help with the shopping." Gwen cast her gaze around to make sure that nobody else had heard her.

"Come on Gwen, this is the man who likes to only eat pizza," Owen exclaimed, waving a hand.

"I do eat more than just pizza, thank you very much."

Before anything else could be said, the waiters came through the double doors that led to the kitchen and laid the food on the tables. The other four took this to mean that they should sit down.

Once the three course meal had finished- the waiters had been indignant at the fact that Owen hadn't touched a single morsel- the party once more went back into the hall where _L'hôpital _began to play again, starting with 'Thanks for the Memories' by Fall Out Boy. Gwen came over to dance with them a couple of times, all of them giggling like little children. The four also bumped into other people they had really only met at Gwen's wedding, including her bridesmaids, Banana, and even Gwen's friend, Andy, who looked completely different in a black tuxedo.

By midnight, every single one of them was flat out, and when the band finished with 'Angels' by Robbie Williams, the couples that danced around only seemed to be doing it half-heartedly. Owen, who had Tosh as his partner once more, had to help hold her up because her face kept falling onto his shoulder from fatigue. Jack and Ianto had stayed out of it altogether, preferring to sit on a couple of vacant chairs away from the crowd. Ianto's eyes were drooping and his head was perched on Jack's shoulder; the captain himself had an arm around Ianto's shoulders to support him. Gwen was occasionally wincing as she danced- her feet were obviously beginning to hurt. Rhys looked pretty much the same.

The song finished, and there was a small babbling noise as the crowd began to dissipate and head towards their rooms, leaving the band to pack way their equipment. Caiera spoke a few words to the drummer, and then turned to frown in Gwen's direction in a peculiar fashion.

* * *

Jack found that he was having a very hard time trying to fall asleep. Perhaps absentmindedly, he hadn't bothered to return to his room, but had instead followed Ianto into his. Ianto had immediately hit the bed and was asleep within seconds. Jack had had to extract the duvet from underneath him and had flung it over the pair of them. No matter what Jack did, his body didn't want to let him drop off. His brain felt tired, but his body was still buzzing with energy.

To keep himself occupied, Jack had assumed a comfortable position and was once more watching Ianto in his sleep. Ianto didn't snore, fortunately, and he rarely tossed around. Jack found it incredibly soothing when he just looked at the Welshman as he slept- it was a weekly occurrence; the captain would wake sometimes naturally or from nightmares, but the sight of Ianto sleeping would always calm him. On some occasions, Ianto was already awake and he held Jack as the captain woke from his nightmares and comforted him.

There had never been a time when Jack did that for Ianto, for which Jack felt slightly guilty, as he knew that Ianto, like any other human being, had nightmares and his would be even more horrifying than most because of what he had seen over the last few years. What Jack didn't know was that tonight would be different.

Ianto suddenly let out a tiny whimper, but it was still loud enough for Jack to hear it. The captain shifted himself so that he was gripping one of Ianto shoulders whilst trying to slide his hand underneath his body, which was facing away from him, to try and wind it around his chest.

Without warning, Ianto's eyes snapped open and stared around, blindly and fearfully. Jack could see that a sweat had broken out on Ianto's forehead.

"Ssh," Jack whispered. "Ianto, it's alright."

Ianto scrunched his eyes shut and bit his lips together, as if trying to block out a scream. After a few more moments, he seemed to regain control of himself, leaning back against Jack.

"Another nightmare?" Jack muttered. Ianto nodded, words failing him. Jack had never seen him this distressed for a long time now, so it came as a slight shock to him. It was usually Ianto that comforted him, and Jack wasn't sure if he knew how to do it properly.

"I can't remember anything," Ianto finally managed to gasp, breathing heavily. "I forget everything the moment I wake up, but I always get... there's this sense of wanting something and it's as if it's been ripped away... and it's painful... I don't even know why."

"Do you need anything?"

Ianto nodded. "I'll be back in a minute. I just need some fresh air."

"Should I come with you?"

"No... I'll be fine... Thanks Jack."

Jack unwound his arms from around Ianto, allowing the Welshman to slide out of the bed.

"What's the time?" Ianto asked, trying to suppress a yawn as he changed from his suit into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Jack wasn't fooled, but he didn't want to say anything.

"It's nearly four o'clock."

"Did I wake you up?"

Jack shook his head. "I haven't been able to sleep at all. You were the lucky one- you collapsed onto the bed right away when we came in."

"Well, it was a good party." He then sat on the bed and slipped on his shoes. "Try and get some sleep. We have to vacate this room by five in the afternoon." He shot Jack a gentle smile. "I'll be back soon; I may just go around for a walk in the garden."

"I'll probably still be up. Don't go too far. Heaven forbid if you get lost in the dark."

Ianto rolled his eyes but couldn't resist chuckling at Jack's poor joke. He walked to the door and disappeared through it, making his way downstairs into the foyer. He was about to make his way out into the car park that connected the hotel to a large, extravagant garden when he heard the tinkling noise of something dropping, which was followed by someone muttering a string of curses. To Ianto, it sounded as if it had come from the massive hall.

Treading carefully, he peered inside the room and found Caiera sitting at the piano that one of her colleagues had played earlier, fiddling with something, her brow furrowed with the utmost concentration. She was still muttering obscenities to herself and Ianto noticed that her teeth were ground together in a sort of grimace.

Caiera was no longer in her lovely blue dress; instead she was dressed in a plum purple nightgown. She was sitting on the piano stool with her legs folded in the way someone who was meditating would fold them. Her hair was still done up, but it had come partially loose over the last few hours, and she sometimes flicked a stray strand of hair out of her face.

"I have trouble sleeping," she called, not looking up from whatever it was that she was doing. Ianto was surprised that she had noticed that he was there because of the concentration she was putting into her work. "It usually happens a couple of times a week; and I wake up in a sweat- most unhygienic, but it can't be helped. I've been suffering from cases of insomnia for all of my life. Mucking around with technology helps ease my mind after a stressful sleep." She looked up from the piano and smiled at him. "Care to join me?"

Ianto shrugged, but walked up to the stage anyway, standing next to the piano. He raised his eyebrows when he saw what she was doing.

On the piano top was some sort of mechanical device that was only a third finished at least. There were wires poking out everywhere and parts of the contraption were spread out in the most random places. Caiera was also making use of a severely kitted out toolbox.

"It's a little project I've been working on in my spare time," Caiera explained, smiling again. "You do not want to see the state of my study. Bit and pieces left, right and centre. I would give it a tidy, but it feels more like home that way. Saying that, there will probably be something growing in the corner if I'm not careful; and I don't personally want to have to call pest control because my stuff is delicate and they'd probably rip a hole in the street if they started to manhandle it."

"Are some of your things that destructive?" Ianto asked, nonplussed.

"Truth be told, I have no idea because I know what to do with it. I don't want to risk being stupid though; I mean being stupid on purpose doesn't get anyone anywhere... well, maybe if they're in a tight situation and they play stupid to escape- I can give that to someone who's trying to save their own neck. So anyway, what are you doing up this early in the morning? I would have thought that either you were tired from dancing until midnight, or we'd bored you all to tears."

"No, you were really good. You've got an amazing voice."

"Thanks, Ianto. How are you feeling by the way? Owen says you're doing alright, but I've been worrying about it for the last few days, and when I start worrying there's little that can be done to stop me. I'm sorry I wasn't really around to check on you."

"Don't be. You had work and you had to set up here. What exactly are you making?"

"Oh... this and that. It's just my brain going into overdrive about these crazy ideas I have. I'm trying to build my own microwave at the moment as well as this- the microwave's a pain because some of the parts don't fit and they have to be from exactly the same type of model. This however-" She gestured at the mess on the piano. "You can put it together with any type of the parts you need, no matter where they come from. If this works, you can say goodbye to keys. On the other hand, keys are good because each one is unique. So..." Caiera gave him a penetrating stare. "You haven't answered my question. How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling fine. It's as if me throwing up all of that blood didn't happen."

"Yet you are wondering around at four o'clock in the morning." Caiera placed the contraption in her hand on the piano top and gave Ianto her full, undivided attention. "It doesn't take a genius to work out that something isn't quite right."

Ianto sighed. "Alright, you've got me. Ever since the meteor crashed and I was injured, I've... been having these nightmares."

"What were they about?"

"That's another thing, I can't remember anything. All that's left when I wake up is... emotion as if I've lost something that I don't know about."

He noticed that Caiera was staring at him in an odd, speculative fashion, though she snapped out of it when she saw that he had seen her.

"I don't know what that's about. Maybe there was some sort of trauma that you suffered from early in life that you can't remember, and your injuries have brought them forwards in your mind."

"That... sounds seriously confusing."

"I know. It's weird how the mind works sometimes, isn't it? Why don't you draw up a seat? Fred, the lazy git, didn't bother to pack everything of his, as you can see from the drum kit that's still there."

Ianto drew up the drummer's seat and sat in front of the piano next to Caiera.

"You never know, you may have some slight insomnia as well," Caiera suggested. "You have a nightmare and you can't get back to sleep. That's not really regular insomnia, but everyone's different."

"You had a nightmare as well?" Ianto felt guilty the moment the words were out of his mouth. Caiera flinched and looked at the keys on the piano, as if trying to extract the meaning of life from them.

"Yeah, I did." She heaved a sigh. "I said I've been suffering from this all of my life... but it got worse after... my mum... I haven't told many people this... but I saw it happen... the bastard came onto her for no reason whatsoever- we were just walking down the street- and then within minutes my mother was burning... The bloke had a tank of gasoline and a few matches... I tried to jump on him before he did it, but he threw me aside like a rag doll." Caiera's eyes were beginning to brim with tears.

"When did it happen?" Ianto's voice was barely more than a whisper.

"About a year ago. It happened on my twenty-fifth birthday. That's when I decided to move away from London because the memories were too painful."

"Didn't you have anyone else?"

"No, I didn't have any other family to go to and I wasn't in a relationship. Truth be told, men aren't my area of expertise." Ianto raised his eyebrows again. Caiera shook her head, grinning even though her eyes were still watery. "Nor are women. So that's why there was no reason for me to stay in London. I decided a different country altogether would be a good idea and I told myself 'why not Cardiff'. I went there when I was younger and I really loved it. I take it you've always lived there, judging by the accent."

"No, actually." Caiera's expression became interested, so Ianto explained. "I moved to London a few years ago, but I moved back to Cardiff... I lost someone... she was destroyed by the 'metal men', as you call them."

"Hmm. I personally blame the government. Over the last few months, I've been hearing rumours that British Intel have been playing host to some sort of covert operation since... I don't know, Victorian times. Something to do with an assassination attempt on the queen. I think they were going on about some project to protect the royal family. But then again, it's mostly stuff off of the internet, and that's sometimes not trustworthy."

Ianto shrugged, not trusting himself to answer without giving anything away.

"I don't suppose you special ops lot heard anything of the sort?" Caiera asked. "If you can tell me."

"I've never heard anything like that before. I thought the royal family had something close to a private army." There, that should hopefully throw her off.

"I'm sorry that you lost someone though," Caiera muttered. "It's not nice losing someone you're close to."

"It wasn't... pleasant... I'm just glad that I've got Jack and the others."

Caiera grinned, cheekily, stretching her back. That was when Ianto spotted something.

"What on earth is that?" he said, staring at her.

The nightgown was made so that Caiera's bare back was shown; and on it was some form of curved scar. It appeared out of the bottom and twisted up and sideways, disappearing underneath the fabric again. One part of the curve was covered with some form of criss-crossed line pattern. Most of it was covered by the dress, but Ianto could see that the scar comprised of quite a few lines.

"Ignore that," Caiera said, turning to face Ianto so that he couldn't see the disfiguring scar anymore. "It's not as bad as you'd think. It's a very weird birth mark."

"How can that be a birth mark? It looks as if someone's used you as a knife sharpener."

Caiera snorted and tried her best to stop herself from laughing, but she couldn't help grinning with amusement.

"I'm pretty sure that I'd remember somebody doing this to me. It would have hurt like hell if they had. Back a subject or two, do you have any family?"

Ianto nodded, absentmindedly. "I've got an older sister who's married with two kids. They're all great, but I don't see them much. Both my parents... My dad died a few months before I went to London and my mum... I was barely sixteen... she was in a gas explosion."

"I'm... I'm so sorry. That can't have been easy."

"It's okay. I've got my friends- Jack, Gwen, Tosh and Owen. They're brilliant and I can't help but feel at home when I'm with them."

"Well, you're lucky that you've still got family who can care for you. I used to tell my mum that I'd give anything for a little brother or sister. She'd always laugh, saying that one of me was enough. Sometimes, though, I couldn't help notice that she seemed upset by something. She never said what, even if I asked... I used to think that something had gone wrong when I was born." Caiera gazed down at the piano again, and then seemed to have an idea. She looked up at Ianto, giving him a mischievous grin once more. "Can I show you something?"

Ianto shuffled forwards in his seat, peering around to make sure that nobody else was about to interrupt them. He then stared intently at Caiera.

"When I was a little girl, my mum wrote this piece of music for the piano. Do you mind if I play it to you?"

"Sure, but we might want to be careful in case we wake anyone up."

"Don't worry; it's a very gentle piece." Caiera then placed her fingers along the keyboard and began to play, her fingertips barely touching the keys. Ianto thought that it was amazing that she had managed to remember this all off by heart. She even closed her eyes as she continued to play.

The music itself was rich and sweet, piercing the bottom of Ianto's soul. It made him want to laugh and cry, to smile and yell, which confused him. The tune swept over him and he soon began to feel at peace with himself. When the piece picked up slightly in pace, Ianto felt his throat swell to an almost unbearable size. As Caiera brought her playing to an end, Ianto stared into space, completely lost for words. He was also feeling indescribably sleepy.

"Ianto? Don't tell me you've zoned."

Ianto suddenly shook his head. "What was that? It... I've never heard anything like it before."

"It used to help get me to sleep. Mum sang it to me every night- or at least the melody because she couldn't sing the harmonies at the same time. She called it the Ballad of the Lost. I was really moved that she'd written it. I loved her and she was my best friend as well as my mother. I was never that popular at school- you know, teasing, threats, and the like. I never let it bother me though because I knew that there was someone who loved me."

"Didn't your dad get involved in your life?"

Caiera scoffed. "Don't get me started on that fucking waste of space." This gave Ianto a shock. "He and my mum only knew each other for two weeks and do you want to know what he did? He raped her. Got her pregnant and left. The police never found him, but he got banged up for murder about a year later- killed a poor old lady whilst stealing her wallet just after she'd been shopping." She spat on the floor with distaste. "He's doing life and I'm glad I've never known him."

"God. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Mum was happy to have a baby, even if the circumstances were... not very good. She called me her miracle baby- I think she thought that she was barren... Sorry, I'm nattering again- and there I go with that word. What is with me?"

"Nothing's with you. You're a perfectly normal human being who sounds like she's had a tough time."

"Tough? Life has been brilliant... apart from... mum."

Ianto tentatively placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It'll be okay. One day, you'll see."

"I hope you're right, Yan." Caiera noted Ianto's giggle at this. "What?"

"Sorry. It's just nobody calls me that except my sister."

"Oh, would you prefer me not to?"

"No, it's alright. Call me whatever you want."

"Within reason I hope."

"Yes, please."

The pair laughed, their cackling echoing around the hall. They both grimaced, praying that they hadn't woken anybody.

"I'd better be going," Ianto muttered. "Thanks for the talk."

"My pleasure. I'll see later."

"Aren't you going to try and get some more sleep?"

"There's no point. I don't reckon I'd be able to get back to sleep. I may go and visit the horses or the gym in an hour or so. You go and have a lie in. Don't take this the wrong way, but you look like you've been dragged halfway through hell."

"Thanks, Caiera." Ianto chuckled and stood, leaving the hall, but looking back as he walked through the doorway. Caiera was once more fiddling with her creation and had actually stood up to get a better look at it.

The Welshman trudged back up to the second floor and quietly entered his room. He couldn't help but let an indulgent smile cross his mouth. Jack was finally asleep and was lying, spread-eagled, across the bed on his front. The smile still on his lips, Ianto undressed as quietly as he could and carefully lifted one's of Jack's arms off of the bed and crawled under it and the bedcovers. Lying back, Caiera's tune still in his head, he fell into a deep and peaceful slumber.

* * *

_Warning. Things start to get dirty in the next chapter, all leading up to what the alien is_.

_Hope you're enjoying it._

_MerlinStar  
_


	6. Rumours and Pain

_Hello a__gain. I'm so glad that so many people have liked this so far, and thanks for reviewing it. **WhovianAtHeart** you have no idea how right you are, and a lot of things will be explained in the next few chapters- showing how random my brain is. Haha. Anyway, enjoy._

* * *

**Chapter 6: Rumours and Pain**

Gwen yawned as she was awoken by the appealing smell of toast and butter. Slowly opening her eyes, she giggled when she saw Rhys carrying a tray of tea and toast towards her.

"Thanks sweetheart," Gwen sighed, kissing him as he laid the tray next to her on the bed. "You didn't have to."

"Hey, you're the birthday girl here," Rhys said, kissing her again. "Declining special treatment from your husband is not an option. So, what is the schedule for today? Would you like to open your presents first?"

"Yes please."

Rhys then gestured to a massive pile of presents that sat on the small chest of drawers at the end of the large king sized bed. Gwen's mouth fell open at the sheer size.

"All of these?" she exclaimed, shocked.

"Which do you want to open first?" Rhys asked.

Gwen shrugged, at which Rhys passed her a large present near where he was. Reading the label, Gwen saw that it was from her parents. Ripping the paper off, she found a beautiful brown terracotta vase. Feeling suddenly excited and childish, Gwen began to tear the wrapping paper off of her other presents. There was a really large book from Andy that Gwen knew that she'd enjoy; another present from her parents that turned out to be a rather expensive looking dress; an ornate photo frame from Jack that looked as if it was from Victorian times- and it probably was, knowing Jack; a bottle of Italian wine from Ianto- Gwen chuckled as she remembered the conversation that they had had a couple of weeks ago; a spectacular bracelet that formed Japanese designs and was encrusted with what looked like sapphires from Tosh; and even a present from Owen which happened to be a week's worth of reservations at a fancy restaurant in Cardiff Bay. Once Gwen had unwrapped these and almost all of her other presents, she turned to the smallest one, which was in a velvety, bottle-green box.

"Who's this from?" she asked, picking the box up off of the drawer top.

"I've no idea. I think someone slipped it in last night whilst we were at dinner."

Curious, Gwen lifted the lid off the box and stared inside. Lying at the bottom was an exquisite silver pendant that was embellished with a Celtic symbol. Lifting it out of the box, she only just registered the note at the bottom. Reaching inside, she brought that out as well and had to squint to read it.

_Happy Birthday Gwen!_

_I'm sorry if you don't find this until you've almost vacated the room, but it was quite short notice and I didn't know that it was your birthday, so I thought I'd better had get you something because you've been really nice to me even though we don't really know each other that well yet. Excuse the childishness of my words, but there you go._

_Anyway, I wish you all the best on your special day. I won't say much- hallelujah!- but I'm just going to tell you a bit about this necklace. Silver is quite special in Celtic tradition and the carving is one for protection, so as long as you wear it, you are protected from any form that evil may come in. This might be useful depending on what you special ops lot get up to._

_Hope you are enjoying your birthday._

_Caiera x_

"Who's it from?" Rhys asked, peering at the note.

"Caiera," Gwen replied, simply. She smiled at the present, promptly placing it around her neck.

"That's nice of her."

"It is, considering I've only known her for about a week."

"She isn't involved with Torchwood or anything is she?"

Gwen scowled at him. "No, she isn't; and I think she's suffered enough without getting involved with us."

"Suffered?"

"Her mother was murdered, and we reckon that she saw it."

Rhys' eyes widened in horror. "Jesus!"

Gwen looked down at the Celtic symbol around her neck. Grinning again, she rose from the bed and began to dress, Rhys following suit.

"What do you want to do today?" he asked, slipping a pair of trousers on.

"I don't know," she called from the bathroom. "Maybe go for a walk and go swimming. What do you think?"

"Today, your wish is my command, so I don't mind."

There was a sudden knock at the door, and Rhys answered it and was surprised to find an out of breath Tosh standing there, holding a stitch in her side."

"We've got a problem," she whispered before Rhys could say anything. "I brought only some equipment just in case and it's just picked up alien activity in the forest."

"You're not telling me that you want Gwen to sort this out," Rhys said in a quiet rage. "It's her birthday, for crying out loud."

"We know, which is why we need you to distract her. Keep her out of the forest and make sure she doesn't find out that something's up. The same goes for everyone else, including Ianto- Owen says he's still meant to be resting after what happened."

"How can I keep everyone out of the flaming forest? There's about a hundred people."

"I don't know, Rhys. I'm sorry, but I really need to go. Jack and Owen have already headed out."

At this, Tosh dashed down the corridor and out of sight, leaving Rhys to stand there, shaking his head whilst his brain buzzed.

"Who was that?" Gwen asked, coming back out of the bathroom.

Rhys put on a grimace as he turned around. "There may be a problem with going into the forest- one of the receptionists just came up to tell me that they're having problems with some wild boar. They say that it's best that we all stay here until they sort it out."

Gwen smiled. "Never mind. It looks like it's swimming then."

"I can't see anything," Owen called over to Tosh. "Are you sure it's this way?"

"Positive," Tosh said. "There's definitely something close."

"You know, I can't help but think that this alien is playing with us," Jack said, staring up at the trees. "Almost as if it's trying to make our lives difficult."

"Jack, they're always trying to make our lives miserable," Owen muttered. "Why should this one be any different?"

There was a sudden rustling from close to them and the three stopped dead in their tracks.

"Owen," Jack whispered, motioning his gun.

Nodding, the doctor crept forwards and peered through the undergrowth. What he saw would have made a weak stomached person throw up, but Owen's stomach wasn't exactly working anymore.

"Jesus," he said, turning away.

"What?" Jack asked, looking over his shoulder. He closed his eyes in disgust. "That's just... not nice."

"Now there's an understatement," Owen murmured.

Lying before them was a dead man, with his neck snapped so that the bone protruded from his skin in a bloody mess.

"Isn't that the drummer in the band?" Tosh asked, her hand covering her mouth.

Jack nodded. "He must have taken an early morning stroll before we found out. Hopefully Rhys has stopped anyone else from coming out here." He turned to Owen. "Can you tell what did it?"

"Yeah... probably 'cause it's standing right behind you."

Jack span around, only to be sent flying until his head cracked against a tree. Tosh and Owen stared at the huge green monster that stood before them.

"Slitheen," Owen spat, cocking his gun.

The Slitheen grinned at this recognition and spoke with a reedy voice. "Indeed I am. I'm surprised that your technology didn't pick me up earlier. I was at your party last night and I recognised _him_." It motioned a clawed hand at Jack's unmoving body. "The infamous Torchwood."

"Are you the one that sent the ship?" Tosh asked, whilst steadily grasping her gun.

The Slitheen cackled. "Unfortunately, we do not have that type of technology. I have merely come here to relieve you of it, though I believe that you still have it your base, wherever that is. You really don't know what you have, do you?"

"Who sent it then?" Owen asked, a frown appearing on his face.

The alien regarded him for a moment. "You do not know? You haven't heard the rumours?"

"Should we have?" Tosh queried.

"The stories are circling half of this galaxy, and it wasn't long before someone in my family heard about it. That ship belongs to the most complicated species in the universe- nothing like anybody has ever heard of before. My family want the ship as well as its owner."

Owen and Tosh glanced at each other, which was a very big mistake. The Slitheen lunged at Tosh, but there was a sudden almighty bang.

The Slitheen looked down at itself and saw that it was partly covered in some sticky substance. Owen and Tosh looked around to see Jack standing there.

"I'd get out of the way if I were you," he said, he himself diving behind a tree. Owen also ran to a tree and Tosh scrambled behind a bush. Within seconds, the Slitheen had exploded, showering the immediate area in sticky, green goo.

"Nasty," Owen said as they all cautiously stepped out from their hiding places. "How the hell did you do that?"

"The Slitheen have a habit of coming here to see if they can steal something," Jack explained. "I've learnt that you should always carry around some form of vinegar just in case you come across one."

"Still, it's made a mess of the wildlife. The people who look after the forest are not going to happy."

"I think they'd rather some mess than a rampaging alien, Owen."

The doctor shrugged before turning back to the dead man. "Poor bloke. He never stood a chance against that thing. How are we going to explain this one?"

"Wild boar?" Tosh suggested. "That's what they all think is the problem."

"It would have skewered him, not broken his neck," Owen said, shaking his head.

"Well, he could have been chased by one and tripped over a ledge."

Owen looked up at Jack.

"It'll have to do," Jack muttered. "The guests are not going to like this."

"It'll put people off from coming to the forest as well," Tosh added, grimacing.

An ambulance drew away from the hotel, revealing a large group of forlorn looking people standing outside. A number of police cars were also there, though they asked very few questions.

Torchwood stood to the side, assessing how shocked everybody looked to learn that a man had so easily died by accident. It was not a pleasant atmosphere.

Ianto and Gwen had been somewhat peeved to learn that the other three had gone off to deal with an alien without them, though Jack and Owen had beaten down their arguments. Ianto was still recovering and Gwen was meant to be enjoying an alien-free day, which had not happened at her wedding.

"You could have still said something," Gwen argued in an undertone, in case anybody nearby was listening. "It's not as if you had to lie."

"You'd have come along even if we only gave you a hint," Jack retorted. "Don't worry, we took care of it. That Slitheen gave us something to think about."

"Meaning?" Rhys asked.

"It told us that there have been rumours in the alien community about a certain species. I don't know what, but it means that we could ask any alien that passes through."

"Before or after they try to kill us?" Ianto muttered. "If that Slitheen was after the alien, then I doubt it'll be the last. Anything else that comes to look for it would see us as getting in the way."

"I may know someone that might have heard about this. It'll take a while to track them down, but we should then be able to ask him some questions."

"Uh, people," Owen said. "We have an issue."

Turning around, the team saw a seriously irate looking Caiera stalking over to them. They could see that her outline was shaking.

When she was in earshot, what she said was in a hiss. "I know that you lot were involved with this, so don't bother trying to lie to me. What happened? I've just spent the last hour trying to stop Angie going into shock- she's in bits."

"Angie?" Tosh asked.

"The pianist," Rhys mumbled.

"That's not the point!" Caiera growled. "Fred was her partner and they've got three kids, so somebody had better tell me something good because I don't know what to say to her. I do not buy the being chased by the wild boar crap- they only attack when provoked and Fred wasn't that stupid. Anyway, it would have outrun him within seconds of spotting him; he would have been skewered before his neck was broken."

"Caiera, we saw it," Jack explained. "Or at least, me, Tosh and Owen did. I'm sorry that it's not what you want to hear, but it's the truth. We heard about problems involving the boars, so we went to see if anyone was outside."

The young woman ran a hand through her hair, obviously not wanting to believe it. She then walked away and didn't look back.

Knowing that she needed someone, Ianto ran after her. "Caiera. I'm sorry. I really am, but you have to face the truth."

Caiera stopped, allowing him to catch up to her. He rested a hand on her shoulder and was horrified to see that her eyes were brimming with tears.

"I've seen too much death, Ianto," she whispered. "It's got nothing to do with anything that happens at work- that I'm used to. It's the death _outside_ of the hospital that gets to me. When is it going to stop? No matter where anyone goes, it follows them like a plague. I may not have been what you call close to Fred, but he didn't deserve this. Nobody deserves something like that, especially when they're forced to leave their loved ones behind."

She gave him a sad smile and then walked away, leaving the Welshman to stare after her. He didn't hear Jack come up behind him.

"Let her be. She just needs to calm down."

"She needs a lot more than that. I think this is reminding her of what happened to her mother."

"Her mother wasn't murdered by an alien though."

Ianto sighed. "Sometimes, I'm not entirely sure if there's much difference. We can be just as bad as the aliens. Besides, she's as human as the rest of us, though she's a lot more empathetic."

Jack didn't know what to say to this. He knew that Ianto was right.

"You could have warned me and Gwen, you know. You could have easily told us to stay put."

"You were still asleep and I didn't want to wake you. You needed the rest... How do you feel?"

The Welshman shrugged. "No matter how hard I try, I can't remember what the nightmares are about. I'm not tired, just frustrated. What's going on, Jack? Not just me, but everything else, which includes the alien."

"I don't know, Ianto. I really don't know."

"Thanks again, Tosh," Ianto said through the window of his colleague's car.

"Don't worry- it saves petrol, so who are we to complain?" she replied. "Do you think Jack will have any luck?"

Tosh had already dropped Owen and Jack back at the Hub. Owen was determined to try and figure out what exactly the spaceship was before UNIT got back to him; and Jack was trying to track down whoever it was he thought would know about what the Slitheen had said. Gwen was probably on her way home with Rhys, as the two of them had made sure that everyone at the party had made their way home before doing so themselves.

"I'll see you later on," Ianto called as he walked towards his house. "Jack'll probably be dying for a coffee and pizza by then."

Laughing, Tosh watched him as he made his way up the drive, but was confused as to why he suddenly stopped halfway there.

Ianto had felt a nagging sensation in the back of his mind and turned to Caiera's house. The curtains to the living room were open and through it, he could see his neighbour curled up on the sofa. There was a glass filled with dark liquid and a virtually empty bottle on the floor next to her.

"TOSH!" Panicking, Ianto leapt over the garden fence and sprinted to Caiera's front door. She had obviously not locked it as it swung open when Ianto touched the handle. Tosh followed, clearly as worried as he was.

Rushing into the living room, Ianto dove next to Caiera and shook her. "Caiera? Caiera!"

The young woman moaned and turned around, bleary eyes. Peering up at him, she frowned. "What the hell is going on? Is there a fire or something?"

"You're not drunk?"

Knowing what he meant, Caiera picked the bottle off of the floor. "It's Ribena, you numpty. Did you think I'd drunk myself stupid because of what happened earlier? Hey Tosh." She stood and took the glass and the bottle into the kitchen, the other two coming after her. "Drinking doesn't help- you can only block the pain for so long before it comes back. More fool you if you leave it too long. I'm not the one you should be worried about at any rate."

"I thought you had work," Ianto said.

"I did before my bosses heard about what happened. They've given the whole band two weeks of paid absence, though I think Angie got longer. The poor girl's going to be going through hell. She needs the break, but I don't. I may have been upset earlier, but that doesn't mean I'm incapable. Okay, it was a shock, and I don't mean to sound cynical, but I only knew him for a few weeks."

"Are you sure you're alright, though?" Tosh asked. "You can talk to us."

"I'll be fine, thanks Tosh. It was just a bit of a shock after..."

"Your mother," Ianto finished.

Caiera nodded, her expression sombre. "I'm sorry I had a go at you lot back at the hotel. You didn't deserve that. You did good to be able to get him away from the boar without it killing you."

"Ianto, can I speak to you for a second?" Tosh muttered, leading him into the hallway. "You have to stay with her. She can't be left alone in this state. She may say she's fine, but I think the pair of us can see differently. What if she did something to herself? She wouldn't be the first to be depressed about something like this. I may not be a doctor but I'm sure Owen would agree with me."

"I know... I might stay here for a while though, so could you tell Jack..."

"I'll let him know what you're doing."

With that, Tosh left the house and Ianto went back into the kitchen to find Caiera fiddling with a tube of tomato puree. She appeared to be having difficulty with unscrewing it. "Damn thing! They should make it easier so that we won't break our fingers."

"Here." Ianto took the tube from her and soon had it opened.

Caiera looked at the floor. "Thanks Yan. For everything."

"You helped me out last night, it's the least I can do. What you played on the piano made me drop off again."

The woman chuckled. "Did Gwen like her present?"

"She loved it- the design was very interesting."

"That's good. I haven't known any of you for that long, but I thought the gesture would break the ice."

"I don't think you needed to."

Caiera then began to boil some pasta. "You... You don't have to stay here. It's not as if I'm off my rocker. Then again, I probably am, but it's not as if I'm going to do anything stupid."

"I may not be a doctor, but I agree with Tosh. You should have the company, and who am I if I'm not there for a friend." Ianto paused. He had said that without thinking.

Caiera's eyes widened, but she couldn't help smiling. "A friend? You really think of me as a friend?"

The Welshman thought for a moment. "Well we're not mortal enemies."

She laughed. "In that case, you have to stay for dinner. Do you want to invite your boss?" Ianto spotted the cheeky grin in her eyes- she had guessed about his and Jack's relationship.

"He might want to, but he did say about trying to get a hold of someone. It sounded quite important."

"Ah well. Tosh should have stayed. What about Owen? Or is he still on that diet of his?"

"He's trying to stick to it, and he's doing alright so far." Ianto felt slightly rotten with himself. He had finally made a friend outside of Torchwood, and he couldn't be honest with her. Now he knew how Gwen had felt before she had told Rhys. However, he knew that he couldn't tell Caiera anything. This was somebody who he had to keep safe.

"I give up," Owen exclaimed. "There's no point at trying to get into this thing. I've tried literally everything."

Jack walked over to the autopsy room. "Everything?"

"I've used everything twice, at least. No alien tech can get through it either. It's pointless."

"We just need to be patient, Owen," Tosh called. "Martha will have the results for us in a few days, and maybe that will give us an idea as to what we're dealing with."

"It's been quite quiet though, hasn't it?" Jack said. "The alien. All it's done is send the ship, tear the Rift and wreck Ianto's car."

"Not forgetting the Hoix," Owen added. "Jack, do you really think it wants the ship? It would have at least made an attempt to break in by now."

"Maybe the Slitheen scared it off for a while," Tosh suggested. "It might not be able to deal with us and anyone chasing them at the same time."

"Good point."

"Let's just wait and see what UNIT and my friend say- I think I've sent the message the right way," Jack concluded. "Hopefully, we'll have it cornered within the next week or so."

"Either that or we'll be washing guts off of the walls," the doctor mumbled whilst moving the spaceship to the back of the autopsy room.

"Still nothing on the Hoix either?"

"Nothing. I can't name anything that could do something like that, and if I can't, I doubt UNIT can. There's nothing on the records, so I think we have a new type of alien on the loose."

"Keep looking. God forbid if UNIT start raiding Cardiff because we couldn't find anything." Jack started back towards his office.

"Would they do that?" Tosh asked.

"Only if they thought that there was a serious threat."

"Oh, and that isn't inconspicuous," Owen said, sarcastically.

"Unless there's something running loose in the city, we'll need to spend every minute looking, Gwen and Ianto as well."

"Where is the tea boy, anyway? I thought he would have come back in by now."

"He's with Caiera."

"Is she alright?"

"I don't think she was that good," Tosh explained. "Ianto thought he saw a bottle of alcohol that was over half empty."

"She wouldn't be that stupid, would she?"

"Apparently not. It was Ribena."

"Maybe you were being a bit over-protective. She is slightly eccentric without the drink."

"You can never be too careful," Jack added. "Ianto seems fond of her, so I don't think he'd want something to happen to her.


	7. In Need Of Answers

**Chapter 7: In Need of Answers**

Two weeks passed, and Owen was becoming more infuriated by the day. UNIT had still not come up with an answer as to what material the ship was made out of, or at least that was what what he guessed. They hadn't said anything since before Gwen's party.

The others felt his aggravation, as they too were becoming desperate to know exactly what the spaceship was and if it was a threat. However, Jack's grim prediction of UNIT raiding Cardiff had not been proved to be true, so that was something less to worry about.

Gwen was now sitting on the sofa with Tosh, the pair of them eating pizza. It was a quiet evening in the Hub and everybody was becoming slightly bored. There had been no alien activity for the last couple of weeks, which was worrying. Even the Weevils, who were constantly coming up from the sewers, hadn't been spotted recently.

"Maybe they can feel what happened to the Rift," Gwen suggested, as they continued the conversation as to what could be going on. "It could have creeped them out."

"Janet's acting normal," Ianto countered. "So that can't be it- the Weevils rely more on their instincts than anything and Janet's parked right on top of the Rift. She'd be in a frenzy."

"Why are you lot complaining?" Owen asked. "The less the merrier. It's nice not having aliens chasing after your arse for a change."

"It's too abnormal," Tosh muttered. "We've never gone a week without having something."

Jack was listening from his office, having nothing better to do. That was when the phone rang. "Captain Jack Harkness." He suddenly tensed. "It's about time- I've been trying to get a hold of you for two weeks. Where have you been?" He listened to the reply. "Okay, I really don't need you to go into detail. What I need is for you to meet in the alley behind that pub you like. Half an hour…. I'll explain when I get there, this line isn't secure and you never know who could be listening. Make sure nobody follows you." Slamming the phone down, the captain grabbed his coat and ran into the Hub. The others reaction was instantaneous.

"Where're you going?" Ianto asked, jogging over to the captain.

"I managed to reach Billy."

"You are joking," Owen said. "That's your contact?"

"Okay, who's Billy?" Gwen asked.

"A Blowfish," Jack explained. "He's been here for about twenty years and we let him stay as long as he doesn't cause trouble and he lets us know when he hears something strange."

"Is he dangerous?"

"Not really."

"That's what he said about Billy's brother," Ianto told her, "who then tried to kill us about three months before you arrived. Brains all over the floor and I don't think the smell's ever gone."

"Thanks Ianto," Jack muttered, though he couldn't help but grin slightly. "He asked for it. Billy's alright though."

"I'm coming with you," Gwen said. "If this bloke has information about the alien then the last thing we need is for you to get annoyed and pull the gun out."

"I don't need a babysitter."

"She's right though," Ianto mumbled.

Jack and Gwen stalked past the crammed pub and down the back, gazing around into the consuming shadows.

"How do you know he'll turn up?" Gwen asked, a cautious hand on her gun.

"I don't, but he knows what's good for him, so he will."

A bin lid clanged to the ground, causing the pair to nearly jump out of their skins. Spinning around, they saw a bloated figure crouching next to a number of dustbins.

"Billy," Jack sighed.

"I was in the middle of something, Harkness," the Blowfish muttered, grouchily. "This had better be good. You should come this way; some people do come back here when they need to vomit."

The alien led the two deeper down the alleyway until they were well out of the sight of civilisation.

"Who's the female?" Billy asked, gesturing at Gwen. "You always brought the doctor with you."

"He didn't come this time. Gwen Cooper, meet Billy the Blowfish."

"Hi," Gwen said, grimacing.

"So what do you want?" Billy queried.

"A Slitheen attacked us in the Forest of Dean two weeks ago- said something about a complicated alien species that caused that spaceship to crash."

The Blowfish froze, his watery eyes, bulging. "You mean that you haven't heard anything about this?"

"All we know is that the alien wants the spaceship back."

"And it killed the Hoix and wrecked Ianto's car," Gwen added.

The alien scratched its bald head and paced around. "The Hoix is only part of it- apparently _this_ alien got pretty pissed off with it or something. It was completely out of the blue. Every alien that's on this planet has heard the rumours."

"What rumours?" Jack said, starting to become a bit infuriated. "The Slitheen just told us riddles, so I'd appreciate it if you explained."

"Are you sure you want to hear this?"

"That's kind of why we're here."

"Very well."

"Do you think Billy has heard something?" Tosh asked Owen.

"Probably. If not many people know what's going on then I bet that Blowfish is one of them."

"He might not tell us though, especially because of his brother."

"_He_ was the one who told us where to find him. Even Billy admitted that his brother had gone too far."

Whilst the other two discussed the Blowfish, Ianto was cleaning up the mugs of coffee, scrubbing without much force because he too was in thought. He then looked around at a noise.

"Did you hear that?" he called, looking over the edge of the balcony.

"Hear what?" Owen asked, peering around.

The Welshman almost skipped down the stairs. "There it is again."

"Ianto, we can't hear anything," Tosh explained, frowning.

Ianto marched across past them and towards the autopsy room, which is where he had heard the sounds coming from. "You must have heard that. I think someone's here."

Knowing that what their colleague was saying shouldn't be taken lightly, Tosh and Owen drew out their guns, looking into every nook and cranny of the area.

"There's nothing here," Owen stated. "Ianto, mate, I think you need your ears checked out."

But Ianto wasn't listening to him. A chiming song had appeared out of nowhere and it sent a soothing wave of calm over him. It sounded incredibly familiar.

A phone suddenly began to ring. Owen swore and ran to his desk.

Billy leant against the wall of the alleyway. "The Slitheen you met in the Forest was being stupid. They would never have found this being in a million years because they don't have the brains. Nobody knows where it is for that matter. From what I've heard, this alien is half human, so it would be easy for them to blend in with you humans. It's helped them because of how its kept the streets of Cardiff clear without you catching on."

"Sorry?" Gwen asked.

"You must have noticed that no aliens have come out into the open for the last few weeks. Its frightened them all off. Why do you think the Weevils haven't surfaced in ages- they can sense it. Some of us reckon that this alien is an experiment that _they_ created the last time theywere here."

"Hello?" Owen said.

"_Owen? It's Martha. Where's Jack_?"

"He's gone to speak to a Blowfish we know about this alien. Why what's up?"

On the other side of the Hub, Ianto was still hearing the strange music that appeared to be coming from the spaceship, though it seemed that the other two couldn't.

"Ianto?" Tosh asked, noticing the glazed look Ianto's eyes had sustained. Owen glanced over, but was too preoccupied with Martha.

"_UNIT have finished analysing that sample you sent us, but they sent it back a couple of times just to be sure_."

"I would have believed you the first time."

"_I know you would have, but _we_ needed to be sure. This is seriously bad_..."

"Who's they?" Jack queried. "Is it a race we haven't heard of before?"

"Oh, you'll have definitely heard about this species, Harkness. Everyone with an ounce of knowledge about aliens will have. The one that's currently got every other alien scared shitless... is half Dalek. The Cybermen made their soldiers from the humans, and I reckon the Daleks tried to make one as well."

The captain froze, his face full of horror.

"_... Owen... The metal you sent us is Dalekanium_."

The doctor span around, dropping the phone. He was just in time to see Ianto reach out with his hand, his expression still very vague. "Ianto! DON'T!"

It was too late. Ianto's hand came into contact with the metal and he held it there. At first, nothing happened, but within seconds, he flew backwards, yelling in pain.

Owen rushed over and grabbed Ianto's hand. He was shocked to see that there wasn't a single mark, but then something else happened. A light flashed through the air and when it had vanished, Ianto had disappeared. Peering around, he also saw that the spaceship had gone with him.

The doctor stared up at Tosh "We are in serious shit."

Ianto landed on something hard that felt like wood and heard the spaceship thud next to him. He gasped as the pain continued to consume him, his vision starting to fade.

Something came towards him, but he couldn't move to see who or what it was.

"Oh no," the person muttered. "This was not meant to happen now. You needed more time. Don't faint! Do you hear me, Ianto? Do not faint!"

Not knowing who this stranger that knew his name was, he looked up, only to realise that this was a mistake. The agony intensified and his world went black.

Jack ran back down the alleyway, Gwen hot on his heels.

"Jack, I don't understand," she yelled. "What are Daleks?"

"The most dangerous species in the universe," Jack explained. "They're even worse than the Cybermen."

His phone rang at that second. "Owen. We are in serious trouble."

"_No shit, Sherlock. Martha just called and told me that the ship is made of Dalekanium. That's not the worst of it though, Jack_."

"Why? What's happened?"

"_Ianto touched it... I don't know what happened... I mean, I've touched it, Tosh touched it, you touched it, even Gwen did, and nothing happened- and I know what Dalekanium can do- but it burnt him and then he just... vanished. He and the ship are gone, Jack, and I don't even want to imagine where it's taken him_."

Jack was silent, staring as if he couldn't see anything.

"Jack?" Gwen whispered. "What's happened?"

The captain swallowed. "We'll see you back at the Hub. We only call UNIT in things get out of hand."

"_Are you kidding me? It's a Dalek. We're going to need all the help we can get._"

"Billy explained that it's half Dalek and half human, which makes it a bit easier."

"_Easier? It could be anyone_."

"I think I might know a way to find it. Wait there and keep checking CCTV to see if Ianto turns up anywhere." He closed the phone and turned to Gwen as they clambered into the SUV.

"What's happened to Ianto?"

"He touched the spaceship and they both disappeared. We don't know where he could be."

One of Gwen's hands shot up to her mouth. "Jack..."

"We'll find him. We have to."

Tosh span around as she heard the sirens wailing and Gwen and Jack sprinted inside.

"Any luck so far?" the captain asked, looking over her shoulder.

"I've cross-referenced his image with CCTV worldwide. There's nothing."

"The alien wanted its ship. It'll have stayed close, so I bet they're still somewhere in the city."

"Why Ianto though?" Gwen exclaimed. "It could have been any of us. Why did the ship do this to him and not to the rest of us? If I was asked who this would be most likely to happen to then I'd say Jack."

"She has a point," Owen muttered to Jack. "Ianto's just the tea-boy. He hasn't done anything to deserve kidnap."

"Leverage?" Tosh asked. "Maybe we have something else the alien wants."

"I really don't know," Jack confessed. "All I know is that Daleks do everything they can to destroy all other life."

"The Rift?" Owen suggested. "It could rip the planet apart if they used that."

"Let's not try to guess what it wants. Right now we need to find out where the ship took Ianto and hope that it's not too late. Tosh, there's something you need to scan for." Jack tapped a number of instructions into his colleague's computer.

"What will this do?" she asked.

"It'll track the Dalek technology. I've seen this before- the Daleks used this to transport slaves for sports."

"Okay... I'm trying it now... It's in Cardiff, near the outskirts." She froze. "Oh my God!"

"Where is it?" Gwen queried.

"I don't believe it... I can't believe it."

"Tosh?"

"The ship is at Caiera's house."

The first thing Ianto felt as he returned to consciousness was pain. He felt his body cringe as it stabbed at him like knives and he called out in a wordless yell. He felt someone trying to hold him down, but he didn't pay them any attention. He was too busy trying to fight against the alluring pull of the dark oblivion.

"Ssh," a familiar voice whispered, soothingly. "It's alright, Ianto. You're okay."

Slowly opening his eyes, Ianto was stunned to see Caiera sitting next to him. Gazing around, he could guess that he was in her house and that he was lying in her bed.

He tried to speak, but the agony peaked again and his eyes scrunched shut as he tried to block it.

"Don't try to talk, you numpty." Caiera was trying to lighten the mood, but he could hear how stressed she was. "I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have touched it yet; you're not ready. I need to explain and I've only been here for about six months. Now the others will probably find us here because I know that Jack knows how to track the spaceship's technology."

"Why?" Ianto croaked, his face paling as the effort cost him energy.

A tear rolled down Caiera's cheek. "I swear that I will explain, Ianto, but you need to rest. You weren't ready for this, so it hurt when you touched the spaceship. I put a dampening field to block it from you, but something must have made you see through it. You shouldn't be worrying about that now, you have to rest."

Ianto felt something prick his skin and he immediately felt drowsy. His eyes started to flutter closed, though he still heard Caiera begin to hum the tune she had played for him the night after Gwen's party. He couldn't understand why, but the song numbed the pain, which helped him drift off into a deep sleep.

Caiera continued to sit there, gazing at her friend as he continued to sleep. She carried on humming the tune to herself, as if to provide herself with some comfort.

Eventually, she heard screeching tires outside of the house and she knew that the rest of Torchwood had arrived. She stood up, so that anything that happened wouldn't end with Ianto getting hurt.

Much to her dismay, she heard the door bang open and fall to the floor. She was grateful to herself for shutting the kittens in the kitchen. There was then the thundering of two sets of footsteps stampeding up the stairs and the door soon burst open.

Caiera raised an eyebrow at Jack and Owen, who were both pointing their guns at her. "Did you have to snap my door off of its hinges? It's not exactly cheap to get that sort of thing fixed."

"What have you done to him?" Jack stormed.

"I didn't do anything. I'm not sure myself why he went and touched it- he wasn't ready."

"Then why is he unconscious?"

"I gave him some anaesthetic. I am a doctor after all, for crying out loud. He was in pain, so I helped him. No offence, but could you put your guns down; you'll end up hurting yourselves or Ianto, and I don't really want that."

"Is that a threat?"

"No, it's fact. Now can we at least act like rational human beings?"

"You're not human."

"I'm not the one pointing the gun; and I definitely don't need to be tranquilised like an animal."

Baring his teeth, Jack took aim at her and fired. He was shocked to see that the tranquilising dart didn't even get close to her, but bounced off of an invisible force field, just as she had held her hand out.

Caiera then leapt across the room and made for the door, however Owen jumped after her and caught her by the leg. With a resounding crash, she tumbled down the stairs.

Peering down after her, the two saw the remnants of some form of small box scattered about the stairs. Gwen and Tosh currently had their guns fixed on her.

The young woman was lying face down at the bottom of the stairway and was slowly pushing herself to her knees, groaning in pain and flexing her shoulders, her face obscured by her hair. She then turned to look at all of them and Torchwood felt their stomachs contract.

Caiera's startling blue eyes had been completely replaced. They were now a sickly pale green with yellow streaks- Jack was reminded of the colour of the skin of the Dalek creature inside the shell. As well as this, at least two centimetres of skin around her eyes were a deep purple coloured with a slightly wrinkled look, almost as if it was severe bruising.

"God," Owen muttered, his gun hand dropping as he looked at her. "What the hell did they do to you?"

Caiera didn't answer, but turned to look back at the floor.

Jack and Gwen stared through the screen at Caiera, who was sitting in the questioning room. Owen was busy with Ianto in the autopsy room, helped by Tosh. Neither of them felt comfortable being close to Caiera.

"I don't understand, Jack," Gwen muttered, clutching at the girl's file. "If she is half Dalek and she had an entire month to hurt us, so why didn't she? She knew who we are, so why didn't she just come and take her ship? She could have hurt us at the party as well."

"I don't know. That's what I'm going to ask her now."

"You said that ten minutes ago."

Jack looked at her. "I haven't seen a Dalek or anything close to it since... ah, forget it. It's nothing."

"What?"

"I just don't know if I'll wake up again if she kills me. I'm not sure I can go in there with that risk." He shook himself. "But life is full of risks and I want to know what the hell she'd done to Ianto." Jack then jogged away, Gwen walking after him, until the pair of them stood outside of the questioning room. There was a moment's silence before they opened the door and went inside.

Caiera was gazing up at them with a blank expression, not betraying any emotion whatsoever. Gwen would be lying if she said that it didn't unnerve her. Once again, she could see that 'end-of-the-world' look in her eyes, even if they were completely different.

Jack sat opposite Caiera, glaring at her. "Who are you really?"

The young woman sat forward. "My name is Caiera."

"The only Daleks that had names were the Cult of Skaro."

"I'm not completely Dalek though, am I. I had a human upbringing, thank you very much, and my mother was very good to me."

"You can't have been born. We spoke to someone who thinks that you're a Dalek experiment."

"Yes, the Blowfish. Dare I say it, but none of the alien underworld knows much about who I really am, including you're fishing friend. I was _born_, thank you very much, Jack. My father was one of those bastards." She looked up to Gwen. "Is Ianto alright?"

"We don't know," Jack spat. "We don't know what you did to him, so we don't know if he'll recover."

"Oh, he'll recover, Jack. I was merely wondering if he'd woken up."

"What do you want with him?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why are you here?"

"I can't tell you that either."

"Well you'd better start telling me otherwise we're going to be here for a long time, and I don't know about you, but I have a while."

"I promised something, Jack, and I'd never break that promise. I promised that I wouldn't get anyone who could get hurt involved, though that failed when Ianto touched the ship."

"What's in it? We can't get it open."

"I can't tell you what's in there, but I can say that nothing you have will be able open it. It has genetic coding, so it'll only recognise certain people."

"Will it destroy the planet?"

"Oh for the love of Pete! Can you please stop thinking about that mundane Dalek stereotype- I'm not exactly evil."

Jack then turned to Gwen, who handed him the folder. "How do you explain this then?" He shoved some photos on the desk and Caiera's face became pale white. "These are photographs of the Hoix that you killed. It would take something pretty evil to be able to do something like this."

Caiera fumbled with her hands and her eyes looked very wet. "I didn't mean to do that… You had gone in the completely wrong direction whilst chasing it… It was attacking a mother and her child when I came across it… It went for the mother… I know it doesn't excuse it… but I got _so_ angry as it leered over her… I jumped on it so that they could run and…" She looked down at her hands. "Call me a monster if you want, Jack. Maybe I am, but I never meant to hurt anybody."

"You did this?" Gwen asked, startled, gesturing at the pictures. "How?"

"My… My DNA is compatible with Dalek technology… It's got something to do with them being plugged into it for their entire lives…"

"You're saying you have the same abilities as the Dalek shell?" Jack said. "I'm sorry, but I don't buy it. You've been lying to us all for the last month, so forgive me if I'm not convinced." He stood. "I'm going to talk to Owen. Then we'll be back to do some tests." As he walked away, he suddenly paused and turned back to look at her.

Caiera was gazing at him whilst taping on the table in a rhythm of four. It was a rhythm that Jack recognised all too well. The Master's drumbeat.

"You remember this, don't you, Jack?" she muttered, not looking away from him. "Only several people remember this, so how is it possible for me to know what happened?"

"You can't know about that. It never happened."

"I've seen everything that happened, whether it was written out of time or not. I also see them all; all of the aliens you've faced and that _he_ faced. You know who I mean Jack. All of the time I see these things along with what happened with Martha... and Rose."

Jack's face became livid. "Is that what you want? You want _him_? Well, I can tell you know that you'll never find him, and I'd kill you if you tried to hurt him."

"He isn't important in this... or rather he's only partially important… I don't want him… Right now, all I want is to speak to Ianto and then, maybe, I can tell you more." She gulped. "What was it like? When you were imprisoned on that ship… what was it like to have them brought before you and killed whilst he laughed at you? You were beyond lost and yet you managed to come back here to them. But we both know, Jack, that one day you'll have to go through that all over again… and I'm so sorry."

Jack didn't say anything to this, but rushed out of the room.

"What do you mean?" Gwen asked.

"I see things Gwen… I know you can tell. Every time you look at me I can see your terror at what could possibly be going on in my head. Because of how screwed up I am, I've seen all of time- the past, present and future. Every moment in your life that you will ever experience is plain to me. I can't tell you how much I envy you. You can't believe how blissfully ignorant you are."

Not knowing what to make of this, Gwen left and went back to the main Hub, only to find Jack pacing with Owen and Tosh watching him.

"Who was she talking about, Jack?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It matters if you're in a state like this. Whilst you were away, what did you see?"

Jack stopped in his pacing. "I saw the end of everything."

"Don't give me that, you obviously saw something else if you're like this."

"None of you need to know about what happened because it didn't happen."

"How does that work?"

"It's complicated." He turned to Tosh. "What does her file say?"

"It's perfectly normal," she explained. "Not even I could have been able to tell that it's fake. It's all there- primary school, grammar school, studying medicine at Oxbridge and graduating with an honours degree. She also spent some time in the army from what it says... though that would all have to be a lie."

There was a small groaning noise and Jack turned to the autopsy room and ran over to see Ianto stirring.

"Ianto?" he whispered, once he had jumped down the stairs. He helped the Welshman sit up.

"Jack? Where's Caiera?"

"In the questioning room… She's the alien."

"What? She can't be… She's my friend." He immediately tried to stand, but both Jack and Owen held him down.

"Don't be thick," Owen muttered. "I need to check you over. God only knows what she's done to you."

"I need to talk to her. She promised that she'd tell me what was going on."

"Ianto, she'd hurt you," Jack argued.

"No, she won't. Please Jack. Owen can look at me afterwards. I need to hear what she has to say. I don't think she'll tell anyone else anything."

"Ianto, she's too dangerous."

To his and Owen's surprise, Ianto managed to throw the pair of them off of him, clambering off of the autopsy table and heading towards the questioning room, the others hot on his tail.

"Ianto!" Gwen called, just as he slipped through the door.

Wrenching it open, they were horrified to see Ianto crumpling at the bottom of the stairs, gasping.

"What did you do to him?" Caiera stormed, running next to Ianto and hovering over him in a protective stance.

"This is your fault," Jack argued. "You're the one that hurt him."

"Stop it," Ianto cried. "I need Caiera to tell me… I need to know… Jack, please."

Jack jumped down the stairs as Caiera moved out of the way. The captain picked Ianto off of the floor and saw his defiant expression. Jack knew that there would be no persuading him.

"Alright, but I'm staying in here with you."

"Jack," Owen said.

"It'll be fine. We need the answers, Ianto as well."

"But can he manage?"

"I'm not exactly helpless," Ianto mumbled.

"We'll be fine," Jack said, "as long as she doesn't try anything."

Caiera rolled her eyes, but sat back down in her chair. Jack led Ianto over to the other one and stood behind him like a menacing bodyguard. The others left, running to get to the screen so that they could see what was going on.

"Thank you," Caiera said to Ianto, smiling slightly.

"Why?" he asked. "I thought you were my friend."

"I am your friend, Yan, and don't think I'm not. The only reason I didn't tell you who I am was because I know what Torchwood can do to things that they don't understand, no offence meant."

"What did you send the ship here for?"

"I need help. I swear that I wasn't lying when I told you that I lost my mother. She was attacked. I'm not the bad guy here, Yan, I'm the victim. Someone is after me and if they find me then my heritage ends with me. I knew that the ship would be safe here, in Torchwood. I also need to keep _you_ safe."

"What has he got to do with this?" Jack asked, an eyebrow rising.

"Everything. He's the reason I came to Earth. I've known him all of my life and the people who are chasing me think that he's connected."

"Who's chasing you?" Ianto asked.

"Another question- you can't hear that yet."

"Why am I important to you?"

"All of my life, I've been aware of you and I came to here to protect you because, even though I'd never known you before, I knew I loved you."

Both Ianto and Jack stared at each other, and Caiera slapped her forehead.

"Not like that."

"Then how? Why do you love me?"

"Because you're my brother."

* * *

_Is this too obvious. Apologies for the cliffie, but I can never resist. Will update soon. There is also more the whole Caiera problem, but you'll have to wait and see. I would honestly be surprised if anyone saw it coming.  
_

_MerlinStar  
_


	8. Twisted

_F__inally, here is the chapter when everything is explained. Or at least, almost everything. You all think that Caiera is half human. Think again- read on to find out why; it's proof of how weird my brain is. Please let me know what you think.  
_

* * *

**Chapter 8: Twisted**

Both Ianto and Jack stared at her with identical expressions of incredulity. Outside, Tosh, Gwen and Owen looked at each other. Was Caiera insane?

"It's the truth," Caiera said, plainly. "You're my twin brother."

"I can't be," Ianto argued, shaking his head. "I have a sister. She's married with two kids."

"Your family found you on their doorstep, where _our_ mother put you... I know that it's difficult to understand, but I swear to you that it's the truth. Your nightmares and that fit are proof that you are my brother. Ever since we met about two months ago, you've had nightmares that you can't remember... They're memories. You're remembering the day that mother sent you here. And the fit with you vomiting blood... When you were little, you fell off of your bike and down a hill, didn't you. You had grazes and bruises everywhere."

Ianto was stunned. How did she know that?

"I had a fit just like yours because I was always like I am now, namely the screwed up DNA. It was only the first time though; I still felt any hurt you suffered but it was never as bad as the first time. But you'd never been accustomed to... the same sort of thing so it only came through when I came here. I didn't know it would happen, but it _did_ help me make sure that you are my brother. I think it's got something to do with being able to establish a psychic link. Anyway, I see things whether they are past, present of future and I've always been able to see you."

"Ianto's human," Jack interrupted. "We have samples of his blood and they prove that he's a human being."

"What is being human but a state of mind? Look, Ianto, remember that tune that I played at Gwen's party."

Ianto nodded. "I heard it before I touched the ship."

"Why do you think it's called the Ballad of the Lost? Mum wrote it because she'd lost you... I can't tell you anything else for the moment. My promise stops me from saying anything for the moment, so if you want to see why I really am not the enemy then you'll have to do some blood tests. I never said anything about showing anyone."

"We don't need blood tests; we know what you are."

Caiera gave him a piercing look. "You are wrong Harkness. You only have half of the story."

Ianto suddenly stood, Caiera giving him a pleading look. Shaking his head, he left the room, Jack right behind him. Caiera hid her face in her hands.

"Ianto?" Jack asked as they re-entered the Hub. "She's nuts. You can't be her brother."

"I don't want to believe it... but when I looked at her, I could tell that she wasn't lying... and it makes so much sense. The nightmares and the fit. All of it happened after I met her." He kneaded his forehead. "I just need to think. I don't understand."

"I still need to check you over," Owen said as he and the other two came over. "She could have messed with your head."

"You do that," Jack said. "Gwen, could you take Ianto home once Owen's done, please. I just need to make sure that Caiera's secure and then I'll follow."

"I'm fine," Ianto complained. "I'll cope."

"You need to relax," Jack told him. "It'll be fine, I promise."

* * *

Owen span around as Jack re-entered the Hub.

"How is he?" Tosh asked.

"Not good," Jack muttered. "Gwen says she'll stay with him because of the mess he's in, even if you couldn't find anything wrong. He just can't get his head around it. None of us want to believe Caiera, but Ianto thinks that she's telling the truth, or at least, she _thinks_ she is. I've never seen him like this. I'm going back in a moment. How are those blood tests?"

"Finished," Owen stated. "It's confusing, though. I don't understand what the hell it is."

"Why?"

"Well there's the Dalek DNA, but after that I don't know."

"The computers aren't being very helpful," Tosh continued. "All we can make out is that she's not human at all. Billy was wrong in thinking that she's half human; there's not a drop of human blood in her."

"She must be."

"That's not the half of it. We took a closer look and found that her blood has a serious iron count. Then again, any type of metallic substance in her body is seriously high, which we think-"

"-lets her incorporate the abilities of the Dalek shell... Alright, so she wasn't lying about that."

"But the high concentrations weren't part of the Dalek DNA."

"You've lost me again."

"We got lost here as well. This high concentration of metal comes from the other half of her DNA. Something must be wrong with our databases because we couldn't get anythig else."

"It's because it won't be on your databases," Caiera's voice said. "It's beyond anything on Earth."

All three of them span around, whipping out their guns, and cautiously made their way to the autopsy room. They found Caiera crouching underneath the spaceship, which she had propped up on some medical equipment. She was currently poking the ship with a scalpel.

"The thing is, it proves that I am not the enemy, but I'll explain later if that's alright. I like to think that I'm more _that_ than Dalek because it's a lot more appealing, and it would explain my slightly mad personality."

"How did you get out?" Tosh asked, clearly annoyed that someone had slipped past their security.

"No offence, but I was cracking codes when I was a baby. Your security did put up a fight, but it lost. Still, it's better than what UNIT use- I swear they don't know what a password is. Then again, the Dalek hacking thing helps a bit, not that I need it, but it does come in handy."

Caiera carefully moved from underneath the ship.

"Can't you touch it?" Jack asked, noticing how wary she was.

"Not without opening it, and that's not something I plan to do yet. As I said, it's got genetic coding, meaning that only the combined DNA of myself and Ianto can open it. Since Ianto's already touched it, that just leaves me."  
"What is in it?"

"I can't tell you quite yet… I have a question, actually. Where the hell is Ianto?"

"He went home. Gwen's with him."

Caiera eyes widened. "You idiots… He needed to stay here. They would have felt the temporal shift, so they'll know that the ship went to my house. They'll recognise the pair of them and think that you're hiding me."

"Who?" Tosh asked.

The other woman didn't answer but ran out of the Hub, the doors opening with a flick of her hand.

"Caiera!" Jack yelled, sprinting after her. "Tosh, stay here and make sure that nothing else gets in. Owen, with me."

Once outside on the docks, the pair stared around.

"Shit!" Owen exclaimed. "Where's she gone?"

"Where do you think? Get in the SUV."

* * *

Jack sped down the road that led to Ianto's house and was surprised to see that Caiera was already there. He and Owen leapt out of the car. "How did you get here so quickly?"

"Don't forget, Jack, I'm half Dalek. I've said it once already, it does come in handy."

"Caiera, who is after you?"

"I'll tell you all later, I promise, but first we need to find Ianto and Gwen and pray that these people haven't come here yet."

As they sped over to Ianto's door, they were horrified to see that it was hanging open. They both knew that neither Ianto nor Gwen would be that careless.

"I'll go first," Caiera muttered, flexing her hands by her sides.

They walked through the house and were shocked to find the state it was in. The sofas were ripped to shreds and the stuffing was strewn across the carpets; the light flickered as it hung from the ceiling by a single wire before going out completely and shattering to the floor, showering the room in glass. The kitchen was no better. The fridge had been overturned and various fruits lay around, some squashed with the juices oozing outwards. Looking upstairs the bedroom had been completely upturned and their stomachs fell when they saw a couple of bullet holes in the wall.

"Shit!" Caiera cried, pacing the room. "Shit! Stupid, bloody Bilis Manger! I swear if I get my hands on him…" She trailed off, fuming as she continued to stalk around.

"Bilis Manger?" Owen said. "What's he got to do with this?"

"He's the one that's been chasing me- he's the only one who can. He thinks that, by using someone like me, he can resurrect-"

"Abaddon?" Jack asked. He and Owen shared a look. That could not be good.

"Exactly. Only now he thinks that you lot are hiding me, so he'll try getting information out of Gwen and Ianto, and he won't be pleasant. Look what he did to Rhys to get you guys to open the Rift. And if he finds out who Ianto is…" She hid her face in her hands. "It would be the end of everything. He tried to get my mother, which is when the kidnap went wrong- they vaporised her. All I could do was collect her ashes and get out of there before they caught me. That's when I decided to come to Earth. If they found me then it wouldn't be long before they found Ianto… But it looks as if I've just made things worse." She sighed. "There's a planet. On this planet was a race that the Daleks hated, and they did everything they could to destroy them. This war lasted for an age. There were only a few survivors, but only two weren't Dalek. One of those two was the one who ended the war. The other hid at the end of the universe."

"If it's alright with you, could you explain?" Owen asked. "Some of us don't know too much about the history of the universe."

"It was called the Time War," Jack said. "Even greater and more terrible than World War I."

"Wait, you know what she's going on about?"

"Follow me," Caiera said, leaving the house and entering her own. She led them up the two flights of stairs before coming to the door to the loft. Unlocking it, she held it open for the pair of them to peer through.

Neither of them could speak. There were a great many blueprints spread around the tables or hanging from the walls, with the models of what they depicted in bits underneath glass cones, including what looked like half a microwave. Everything looked seriously alien. However, the most shocking thing was on the opposite wall.

Caiera had apparently etched things into the walls with great frustration and quite quickly. Almost all of the wall was covered in random words. Owen and Jack could see their own names a couple of times, including others like _Martha_, _Cult_, _Donna _(whoever that was)_, Rose, Doctor, Skaro and Gallifrey_. The most prominent name that took up most of the wall was _Ianto_.

"Jesus," Owen mumbled.

"I add something every time I have a nightmare or see something," Caiera explained, walking over to her laptop. "It helps clear my head."

"You see all of this?" Jack queried.

"Yeah, but I don't mind. Sometimes what I see is comforting."

"Can't you do anything to stop it?"

"No… Come and look at this." She stood back. As they watched, a video began to play on the screen, and in it was a very young Caiera, who was running around on what looked like another planet. In the film, she had not hidden her Dalek-like eyes.

The planet itself was a lustrous green forest that they knew didn't exist on earth. Shining birds flitted around as the child cantered around, the sound of a waterfall coming from somewhere in the background. The trees entwined into each other, their branches criss-crossing in the most intricite patterns, though the sun shone through, sending and orange, dappled light onto anything underneath the canopy.

"Caiera, look at the camera," a voice said. Owen and Jack guessed that it was her mother. "Tell me how old you are today."

"I'm four," the Caiera on the screen. She looked a lot older than she was.

"Cline, hold this for a second," the girl's mother muttered to the side. The camera shifted and a blonde woman entered the picture and scooped the child into her arms. Caiera hugged her mother.

"Do you want to say hello to anyone?"

"Granddad." The child gave a small wave at the camera. "Cline, is it pointing at me?"

"There's nothing else to point it at," a man's voice called.

At this, Caiera stopped the video and turned to the other two. "You probably guessed, but I'm not from this time. I was born about three hundred years in the future on another planet. My surname isn't strictly Messaline, it's the planet my mother was born on. My mother's name was Jenny… Before I go any further, you need to give your friend, Martha, a ring."

"Why?"

"Just ask her about Messaline."

Reaching for his phone, Jack dialled the number, not knowing exactly why he was doing what Caiera suggested. Soon he heard the phone pick up on the other end.

"_Jack? Is everything alright? I let Owen know about the Dalekanium, but then I think he dropped the phone._"

"Gwen and Ianto have been taken."

"_What?_"

"Martha, I need you to tell me something. I'm with someone who thinks you know something about a planet called Messaline."

Martha was silent for a moment. "_Jack… How did you hear about this?_"

"She says she's from there."

"_Has she told you what happened?_"

"She told me to ask you."

"_Jack… After that problem with the ATMOS, the TARDIS took me, the Doctor and his friend, Donna, to this planet_." Jack started. 'Donna' was one of the names on the wall. "_There was a war between the humans and a species called the Hath, but the Doctor stopped it… but before he did, his hand was processed… Jack, he had a daughter called Jenny._"

"What?"

"_She died though. Someone shot her and she died_."

Jack was frozen, his face full of disbelief. "Thanks, Martha."

"_Jack, if you need any help with the Dalek-_"

"No we're fine. It's not the Dalek that's the problem."

"_Then what is?_"

"I'll get back to you Martha. Right now we've got to find Ianto and Gwen."

"_Good luck_."

Jack hung up and turned back to Caiera. "It can't be possible."

"It's ridiculous isn't it," she said. "Half Dalek and half Timelord. Though it would explain why I have such a high metal count in my blood stream, wouldn't it? My mother was created by a machine. She didn't die, Jack. She regenerated, just like the Doctorcan, though she didn't change what she looked like."

"What's going on?" Owen asked. "And what the hell is a Timelord?"

"The Timelords were the oldest race on the universe. They were the race that the Daleks wanted to destroy. My grandfather ended the war, but a few others escaped. Jack is actually an old friend of my granddad's."

Owen turned to Jack. "You could have told us."

"It's something that I didn't think you should know about."

"Well that's a bit hard to say when Ianto and Gwen have been snatched because of something from your past."

"It's not his fault, Owen," Caiera interrupted. "If you want to blame someone then blame me. I shouldn't have exposed any of you lot like this."

"Do you have…" Jack motioned at his own chest. Owen frowned.

Caiera took up a stethoscope and gave it to Jack. The captain placed one end in his ears before placing the other against her left side. He then shifted it so that it was on her right side. He stared. There was a second heartbeat.

"How on earth were you born. Didn't your mother know about what the Daleks did?"

"The Doctor told her, but only briefly. She didn't really know what my father was when she found him."

"Care to elaborate?"

Caiera made her way over to a sofa in the corner. "You may want to sit down; it's quite along story, and you'll have to bare with me because I wasn't exactly there."

* * *

_Three hundred years into the future_

Jenny tapped away at the console whilst tapping her foot against the chair, not knowing what to do. After a few moments, she began to stare around the main hanger of her ship.

It had been about two years since she had last seen her father and left Messaline, and during that time she had been seriously busy. She had visited many planets and dealt with many monsters as well as done a serious amount of running.

Jenny laughed at that thought. She wondered how much running her father had done. She guessed a lot as he could go anywhere in time and space.

Lately, Jenny had begun to feel weird. She missed Messaline, but she wasn't in a hurry to return there as she still craved adventure. In the end, she told herself that she was just lonely; she did lead quite a lonely existence. If only she had a friend like her father had Donna and Martha.

A sudden bleeping noise registered, only just drawing the young Timelord out of her thoughts. Gazing at the screen, she watched as some form of language flashed across the screen. For some peculiar reason, she could read it and saw that it was a message for help.

Grinning to herself, she began to work and set her ship from the coordinates of where the message had come from. She felt the usual rush of adrenaline as the spaceship shot through space as quickly as the speed of light.

After quite a while, Jenny felt her ship touch down after a rather bumpy descent. She ran to the exit and opened the hatch to peer out at a entirely desolate planet. The ground was hard and lifeless, a dusty brown colour. The sky was a parched yellow and the three suns hung low over the horzon, signalling the end of a day.

Not knowing why anything would come here, she set out across the rock, following her tracking device that was leading her to where the message had originated from.

She looked for what felt like an age, and by this time the suns had set and she could barely see anything. Jenny hoped that there weren't any nocturnal creatures on this planet.

She was about to give up when, coming across a wide ditch, she saw a metal shell, clearly rusting away. Praying that it wasn't dead, Jenny clambered down into the hole and warily crept towards the thing.

All of a sudden, the thing's head span around to reveal an eyepiece with a blue for the eye.

"Who are you?" the thing croaked.

"Were you the one who sent for help?" Jenny asked, not deterred in the slightest.

"Daleks do not need help from humans. That message was sent to any possible Daleks in the area."

"Daleks?" Jenny felt a wave of shock flow through her. Her father had told her about the Time War against the Daleks. "But aren't you all dead?"

"The Daleks must survive. I am the last one."

"If you're the last one, then why did you send that message if you know that none of your kind will come?"

"The Daleks must survive."

Jenny, knowing that she shouldn't, felt nothing but pity for the dying creature in front of her. Even if it was a creature of destruction, it still hoped like any otherbeing could. Right now, it needed her help, even if it was meant to be her mortal enemy. "Can you move?"

"Most of my circuits were damaged during emergency temporal shift."

"Time travel? Well, you're lucky it brought you here and that I could understand your message. Wait a minute."

Digging into her pockets, Jenny brought out of form of a remote-control and key in a few codes. She then turned back to the Dalek. "We need to wait a moment. My ship is on the way. Do you have a name?"

The Dalek was silent.

"I just want to know you're name. Or do you even have one?"

"My name.. is Dalek Caan."

"I'm Jenny."

Soon, the two could hear the approach of the spaceship and before long it had parked right next to the ditch. Jenny quickly ran to the store cupboard and brought out a pully system, attaching it to the ship's hatch and then rushing down to tie the cables around Caan. With a great amount of effort, she pushed against the Dalek as the pulley system lifted him into the ship.

Once she had pushed him into the main hanger, Jenny began to dig around for some tools, throwing parts around that she didn't need. She then set about working at the base of Caan's shell, managing to take off parts of the metal to be able to reach the wiring.

"You know about us Daleks," Caan finally said after a prolonged silence. "Why do you help me?"

"Why not?"

"Many have tried to destroy the Daleks before. We survive, but many still seek our exstinction."

"Because you try to either kill or rule over everyone else?"

"Yes."

Jenny moved backwards and smiled with staisfaction. "Well that's your motor circuit done, but it's only for the bottom half. I'll need a bit more time to fix the rest of you. It also won't have full power straight away, so you'll have to hang around for a while."

The light in the eyestalk contracted. "Most humans would be repulsed by what I stand for."

"Firstly, I'm not human. Secondly… I was created to fight a war against a species called the Hath- generations of my people were killed each day for a week. I know what's it like to have a purpose planted inside my head because I was born with the knowledge of how to fight and kill. But I wasn't like the others, who were all human themselves; and my father taught me that I have a choice. I'm glad he did. It helped to end the war."

"A week is nothing. I fought a war for many years."

"I know you did. My father was there as well."

There was a stunned silence as Caan processed this information.

"So I imagine he knows what it's like to be the last of his kind, considering he thinks that I'm dead."

"You are the Doctor's daughter! You will be exterminated! He is the destroyer of the Daleks."

"There's no need for that. You can't exactly do much at the moment, so please don't threaten me if you want me to fix you."

"You are a Timelord. Why would you help me? We are mortal enemies!"

"No, _we_ are not. Just because I'm a Timelord, it doesn't mean that I have to fight my father's battles. You're the first Dalek that I've ever met, so I can't pass judgement."

Caan was silent at this, allowing Jenny to carry on with repairing him. She soon discovered that she couldn't remove anything from the top half of the Dalek.

"Are you actually a robot?" she asked. "I don't really know much about this sort of thing."

"It is a shell to protect our true selves," Caan explained. There was a slight hissing noise and Jenny looked on as the suit opened up to reveal the small creature inside.

Caan stared up at her with his one eye, carefully watching her reaction. "Do I not scare you?"

"No, of course not."

Giving him an encouraging smile, Jenny began to take apart the shell from the inside, doing her best not to move the Dalek around too much. After quite a while, she stood up and smiled at her handy-work.

"Finished, but you won't be able to go anywhere for a couple of weeks. Most of your systems need to reboot."

The Dalek merely stared at her.

Over the next few days, Jenny found it incredibly hard to get Caan to talk to her much. He still seemed very cautious to the fact that she was a Timelord, though Jenny guessed that he was still stubbornly sticking to whatever he believed in, which included not speaking with the 'enemy'. Soon, however, Jenny began to tell him about what she had done whist away from her homeworld.

Dalek Caan was shocked with himself as he found that he gradually began to listen to what she said. He did not know why, but he couldn't help it.

At one point in the following week, Jenny started to ask him about what had happened during the Time War. Caan was pretty over-zealous in highlighting any victories the Daleks had achieved and the progressive technology on his planet of Skaro, though he was hard pressed to mention any advances the Timelords made.

He also became seriously infuriated when Jenny started to question the Daleks motives, at which point Caan would go silent. But as time continued, he stopped shutting the questions out. To his absolute horror, because of what this girl was saying, he was actually wondering whether the Daleks had been right to press war against the rest of the universe. He was repulsed with himself, which wasn't right either. Daleks were not meant to feel anything; they were meant to follow orders.

Caan then remembered what had happened to his leader, Dalek Sek, and knew that he was slowly becoming what Sek had after evolving into a Human-Dalek, though without the human genetics included.

There then came the day when Caan found that all of his systems had been restored. Jenny, meanwhile, was sleeping in the pilot's chair.

Rolling up to her, Caan looked at the woman that should be his enemy, slowly moving his gun to point at her. The silence dragged on and Jenny still breathed.

Caan looked down at his weapon and then back at her. He suddenly knew that he could not kill her, again suffering from a fit of self-loathing.

Knowing that he had to get away from here before he could no longer call himself a Dalek, he suddenly had an idea. There was one more possible way to see that the Dalek race continued, even if it meant that it wasn't pure Dalek.

Once again opening his casing, Caan quickly and silently set about removing some of his own DNA into a syringe. Moving forwards, he injected the syringe into Jenny's abdomen.

Luckily this didn't wake her, so Dalek Caan manoeuvred away from her.

"Emergency temporal shift." And he was gone.

* * *

Owen and Jack stared at Caiera as she finished that part of her story.

"Six months later," she continued, "my mum went to a medicine man on a planet near the Medusa Cascade because she felt weird. That's when she found out she was pregnant, so she decided to go back to Messaline. They all welcomed back as a hero and she lived with her friend, Cline, and his wife. Three months after that she gave birth to me and Ianto."

"Why did she send him away?" Jack asked.

"Bilis Manger has been chasing me for a lot longer than what happened last year. He found out what my mother was when she visited Earth in that time period, five months before I was born. He then started a manhunt because he knew that my mum's Timelord DNA could reincarnate his master. Once we were born, Mum knew that she had to send both of us away.

"There's a machine that the Timelords used called a Chameleon Arc- she just knew how to build one as if she always had. You know what I'm talking about, Jack, it was the same machine that the Master used. She turned Ianto human first… but the Arc broke. By then Manger was onto her and she didn't have enough time make another one, so she could only take Ianto away. She got a hold of a Time Vortex manipulator and brought him back to this time and left him on a doorstep for a family to find him. She was glad she'd chosen them; they were a really good family, even if they did have a couple of problems over the years. Mum went back to our time with me.

"Basically, from the moment I was born, I have been on the run. We did visit Messaline a few times over the years, but we could never stay for long as Manger was always breathing down our necks.

"Then about a year ago, we were cornered on a planet in the Ood-sphere. They tried to take both of us prisoner, but something went wrong and mum got vaporised into ashes... Manger was furious and whilst he was shouting I slipped away with what remained of my mum.

"I then knew that I had to protect Ianto. As I've told you already, I've seen his life. The mix up of my DNA makes me see the past, present and future, sometimes not when I want to know. I travelled to Earth in my time and opened the Rift to here. I didn't want to risk getting lost, so I first sent the ship and then I used emergency temporal shift whilst using the Rift as a relay so that I'd end up here and not in prehistoric Africa or somewhere stupid like that. I made myself an identity and I've been here ever since."

"I'm still not sure about your brother being Ianto," Jack argued, shaking his head.

Caiera then opened a drawer and pulled out an old fog watch. She held it out for the captain to see, so that Jack wouldn't be able to mistake Ianto's name engraved onto it.

"My mum was lucky enough to find a fog watch. It holds his Timelord consciousness, something which he has really never known. The Ianto you know is the real thing; he's only lacking his true heritage."

"So if he wasn't human, he'd look like you."

"Pretty much."

"What's in the ship?" Owen asked.

"Haven't you guessed yet? It holds my mum's ashes. I'm hoping... I'm praying that I'll somehow be able to reanimate her because of the Timelord regeneration cycle. It's a long shot, but I owe it to her." Caiera leant backwards. "I've now told you officially everything, even if I swore not to get others involved, but then again we're past that. You might not want to believe me, but every word I've spoken is the truth. I'm still your friend, even if I am an alien. I never meant to kill that Hoix, and I've done everything I can to protect those I've come to love, even if I sometimes fail... though nobody's perfect. I may be half Dalek, but I don't let that control me. I was raised by my mother, who is a Timelord, and the daughter of the Doctor."

Jack and Owen could see just how sincere she was being as she stared at both of them with that look that betrayed just how much she had seen. They both knew that they could not question what she was telling them.

"Do you have any idea where they've taken Ianto and Gwen?" Jack finally asked.

"I could try to sense Ianto, so there shouldn't be any problems there. The problem will be getting in and out."

"You get us there, and we'll deal with that."

"I know that look," Owen muttered. "What are you thinking?"

"We need to get Tosh and then I need to make a phone call. It's time to get someone involved who Bilis Manger will never expect."

* * *

_This idea came to me whilst watching 'Journey's End' when Dalek Caan was ranting on about how Daleks were wrong. I thought that there was more to it than a trip to the Time War- he would have been embroiled with what happened because he was a Dalek. Thinking about it, Jenny and Caan do have some interesting similarities- they were both bred for one purpose (killing) and they were both grown from someone/thing else. Interstions as both races hate each other. Unlike Caan though, Jenny made the choice not to kill, which I thought might be a good idea to start Caan's change in character (even if he does lose it). You can also guess where his next temporal shift took him.  
_

_I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. The next one will focus mainly on Gwen and Ianto and how the others get them out of wherever they are. Plus, yet another thing goes wrong for Ianto. _

_I will update soon.  
_

_MerlinStar  
_


	9. The Spaces Between

_I'm baaack! I'm really sorry for not updating in MONTHS. I never gave up on this story- I got a bit distracted by school and the last ever series of Merlin. Anyway, this chapter comes with a warning for a torture scene (nothing mentally scarring I think, but you have been told). I will update soon, only I have an exam on Wednesday. Enjoy..._

* * *

**Chapter 9: The Spaces Between**

Gwen woke with a splitting headache, clutching at her head as she pushed herself to her knees.

What had happened? The last thing she could remember...

She gazed around, suddenly realising what was going on. Bilis Manger and a number of men had come to Ianto's house. The two of them had tried to fight their way out, but they were soon overpowered and knocked out.

They were both now in a white-washed cell, though Ianto appeared to still be unconscious. Peering around, Gwen could not see any discernible entrance. In fact, there was not a single window or door in the room. She looked at the ceiling, but the only things there were the lights; the bright beams causing her to squint.

A small moan alerted her to the fact that Ianto was regaining consciousness. Crawling over, Gwen turned him over to face her. "Ianto?"

"Gwen? What happened? Where are we?"

"I don't know, but I think Bilis Manger has something to do with it."

Ianto grimaced in disgust, remembering what Manger had done the last they had encountered him.

"How are you feeling?" he muttered, rubbing the back of his head.

"A bit sore, but nothing too bad. How about you?"

"Nothing new. Bruised head and dignity, and that's not something I haven't experienced before."

Gwen had to roll her eyes and chuckle at this. Even in a crisis, Ianto could be depended on to make some form of witty comment.

"What do you think Bilis wants now?" Gwen muttered, more to herself than anything. "He didn't kidnap anyone last time; he just went in for the kill."

"Oh God," Ianto murmured.

"What?"

"I think I know." Ianto stared around, not trusting himself to speak in case they were being watched or listened to. However, Gwen seemed to catch on. She gulped, though she couldn't understand what these people would want with Caiera, unless they needed her to use as a weapon.

There was the sudden sound of decompressing gas and a hatchway suddenly appeared in the far wall, allowing a group of four men to step through. Ianto and Gwen didn't recognise any of them, but they knew that Bilis wasn't there.

The first one to enter was a huge, muscular man, his arms rippling as he flexed them. His skin was a dark, chocolate colour and his black hair was closely shaved to his impressively shaped scalp. The others were similar to him, but a lot less bulky and with differing skin tones.

"Who are you?" Gwen demanded. "You have no right to keep us here like this."

"That is irrelevant," the first man said. "Our boss reckons that you are hiding something that he wants- in fact, he's pretty sure. So why don't you tell us where she is and we can leave it at that. You're Torchwood, so you must have heard something, especially since that UFO crashing a few weeks ago."

"Who are you talking about?" Ianto asked, playing dumb.

"The hybrid."

"What hybrid?"

"Do you really think that we are that stupid? We tracked the temporal shift that the ship gave off to your street. It can't be a coincidence for you to be living near to her without you knowing who she is."

"We don't know anything about a hybrid." Ianto knew that he would never tell these people anything. Caiera was his friend and she might even be his sister, unless her Dalek DNA had seriously warped her mind.

The three men behind the first tensed, all of them looking seriously peeved. Gwen herself couldn't understand why Ianto was so desperate to protect Caiera, but she was prepared to go along with him.

"The boss is certain that they know where she is," one man muttered to the others.

"Unless she hasn't revealed herself to them," another intoned. He grinned wickedly, turning back to Gwen and Ianto. "Does the name Caiera Messaline sound familiar?"

"I can't say it does," Gwen intoned, following Ianto's attempt to feign ignorance. She was relieved to see that this made the four men even more confused.

"Maybe they don't know her," one told the leader. "She may not have wanted to get to know him." Here, he gestured at Ianto.

"I'm not about to take anything these two say at face value," the leader muttered. "Torchwood are crafty buggers and I wouldn't be surprised if they are lying. Take him upstairs for questioning and bring her along to watch. Maybe that'll get one of them to talk."

The next few seconds blurred together in a rush and before they knew it, both Gwen and Ianto were being manhandled out of the door and pushed along a corridor. The place was dark and only lit by a few dull lamps that ominously bobbed from the low ceiling. The plaster smothering the walls was a bleached yellow with no windows and dirt was clearly smudged in the gaps between the visible brickwork. The flooring was moulding green wood that looked as if it hadn't been wiped down in years. All in all, the conditions here were worse than the ones at the Hub, and that was in a sewer for crying out loud.

Their captors soon led Gwen and Ianto into yet another white-washed room, though it was split in half by a glass screen. Ianto was roughly bundled through to the other half whilst Gwen was forced to a standstill.

Her heart fell.

A single, ominous chair that looked like the ones dentists used was bolted to the middle of the space behind the screen with a heart monitor lurking behind it, the leads trailing over the floor. There was also an operation table. Gwen forced herself not to imagine the torturous instruments that awaited her friend.

All the while, the Welshman was trying to wrench himself away from the two men that were forcing him into the chair and strapping him. The restraints were course and immobilised him completely so that he couldn't move an inch. Even his head has been tied to the chair.

Ianto glared at the men who were leering over him, breathing heavily in an effort to keep himself calm. It became harder as they attached the heart monitor to him and then went over to the table, chuckling in a malicious manner. They returned into his peripheral vision, one of them brandishing a syringe, which glinted in the dim light, filled with some form of clear liquid.

"The boss has been developing this stuff for the last few months," the leader muttered, "so we thought we'd have a bit of fun. Not that it's necessary. Just tell us where she is and it won't come to anything. Even better, you can tell us the codes to your base and we can go and pick up that ship."

Ianto's scowl deepened. He was a member of Torchwood. He would not give in that easily. "Go to hell."

The men's eyes lit with delight. "I'm not the one going to hell, sunshine."

With that, the other man plunged the syringe into Ianto's neck and injected the substance. For a few seconds there was nothing, but then the pain started. It was only a twinge at first and it continued to build until the Welshman was gritting his teeth to prevent himself from making a noise. He scrunched his eyes shut.

"_Do not speak… Do not give them the satisfaction… Don't say a word about Caiera…_"

"Where is the hybrid?" the leader demanded, his voice close to Ianto's ear. "Tell me."

Ianto was silent, his face begin to sweat as he tried to keep the pain at bay, his hands forming claws around the chair arms.

Bilis' lackey growled in anger and motioned at his companion. The latter protruded yet another syringe and repeated the procedure. Within seconds, Ianto's limbs were twitching and he was hissing through his teeth.

"TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!" the man screamed, back-handing Ianto across the face. A small whimper escaped the Welshman's lips. His torturer bellowed and took two more syringes and emptying the contents down Ianto's throat.

Ianto choked and immediately screamed; the pain too much for his body to handle. He felt as if he was burning from the inside out and he could no longer hold his anguish inside him. The poisonous liquid raced through his being and left nothing but agony. It felt as if it was boiling his blood and scorching his throat and stomach, his lungs becoming heavier.

Gwen was staring in horror as the torture was carried out, screaming as much as Ianto in her attempt to escape the two men restraining her so that she could help him.

"YOU BASTARDS!" she shrieked. "LET HIM GO! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL HIM!" Her frenzy increased as Ianto made another choking noise and a trail of blood left his mouth, his yells continuing as he tried to writhe away from the pain. The men all laughed at his screams and Gwen's desperation.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!" a voice suddenly bellowed from behind Gwen. All four men and Gwen span around to find a furious Bilis Manger standing on the threshold; his eyes alight with an endless bloody red rage.

Gwen had seen him haughty, which had been creepy enough, but his anger took her fear of him to new levels. He seemed to tower taller than his usual height and a dark shadow was across his face, causing his twinkling eyes to blaze. It was almost as if she was face to face with a demon.

The leader left his colleague with the still-writhing Ianto and re-entered the other half of the room, looking incredibly sheepish at his employer's expression. "They know where she is, boss, so we just thought to persuade him."

This only heightened Manger's fury. "Persuade him? I told you to leave them to me. That man won't be able to speak for now, let alone tell you where Miss. Messaline is. Need I remind you that it was thanks to your idiocy that we lost the Timelord in the first place."

"Then his pain may have persuaded this one to talk." He gestured at Gwen, who glared at him with a look of deepest loathing.

"These people are Torchwood, Maurice. I thought you knew how resilient they can be, especially since my master's demise last year. Now untie him and, once I am sure that Mr. Jones will recover, I will deal with you and your men for your incompetence. Bring Mrs. Cooper in as well."

The two men who had been guarding Gwen led her through to the other side of the glass screen behind their leader and Bilis.

By now, Ianto had stopped screaming, but he was still flustered and his eyes were rolling around in their sockets.

Bilis snapped his fingers and, as if they had been told telepathically, the two burly men let go of Gwen.

Not caring if she would be stopped, Gwen rushed forwards and began to undo the straps that held Ianto to the chair. She then lowered him onto the floor and knelt beside him. He didn't seem to realise that she was there.

"Ianto," she whispered, wiping away the blood on his chin with her sleeve and then carding a hand through his slick hair. "It's Gwen… You're alright now… Everything's gonna be fine."

The only response she got was a flinch and a small whimper. He was still breathing heavily and his shirt clung to him. He was burning up.

Continuously muttering empty reassurances to her suffering friend, Gwen began to unbutton his shirt so that he could cool off. However, she was almost done when something made her stop.

Patterned onto Ianto's right-hand side was a number of curved markings that formed perfect circles, stretching onto his back. Not only that, but there were some kind of scarring that looked like letters embedded into his skin. Gwen knew that they had not been there before. The marks looked as if they had always been a part of Ianto.

Unfortunately, her hesitation was noticed and, before she could hide Ianto's side, Bilis had snatched at the shirt and was staring at the new apparitions with a look of surprise on his face. However, his expression soon turned to one of glee.

"Oh, very clever, my dear Jennifer. Very clever indeed." He grinned at his lackeys, who were looking moderately dumbfounded at their employer's sudden change in mood. "It appears that the young Timelord had twins. Mr. Jones is also her son judging by the texts on his side."

Gwen did not like the way that the men were now looking gleefully at the delirious Ianto, as if he was the prize of a hunt.

"Leave him alone," she said in an uncharacteristic growl. "Ianto is not the son of a Timelord or whatever it is you said. He was raised in Cardiff. He's human."

"Appearances can be deceiving, Mrs. Cooper," Bilis explained, standing back up and straightening his jacket, the smug expression still plastered in his face. "I did not know that _dear_ Jennifer had two children, otherwise I would have guessed that she would use a Chameleon Arc to hide them. Obviously she could only change Mr. Jones here. This makes matters all the more easy. Gentlemen, we no longer have need for Miss. Messaline or her mother's remains. Take Mr. Jones to the preparation room; I will be there shortly. Do not do anything until I arrive. In the meantime… Patrick, I will need you to help me escort Mrs. Cooper back to her room."

As the man called Patrick started to forcibly lead her away from Ianto, Gwen tried to strike out, but was immediately restrained by the man's rippling arms and removed from the vicinity.

Ten minutes later and after many unsuccessful escape attempts, Gwen was shoved back into the room she had awoken. She turned to scowl at Bilis Manger.

"What are you going to do him? You realise that Jack will stop you."

"I'd like to see him try," the old man replied, his voice silky. "Unluckily for him, things are already set in motion for me to be stopped. I have spent a great many years searching for Miss. Messaline and her mother before her. But now I have Mr. Jones, everything can go ahead and all will bow before my master."

Gwen felt sick in her stomach. "Abaddon? That's what this is all about? You're trying to return _him_ from the dead?"

"I'm not trying to, I will. All I need is Mr. Jones' heritage as a Timelord and my master will walk once more."

"You're… insane. If you think we'll let that happen again then you've got another thing coming. Jack will just do what he did last time."

Despite Gwen's euphoria at this epiphany, Manger laughed.

"Abaddon will absorb the Timelord resilience. Not even the good Captain will be able to stop him. In fact, my master will just keep coming back for him when every other form of life has dried up. I can imagine that it will be like eternal purgatory for him."

"Ianto isn't a Timelord though, so there's no point."

"His Timelord consciousness may not be part of him but there is a link that can never be severed, otherwise there would be no hope of the pair being reconnected. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must speak to Mr. Jones before it begins."

"You're summoning Abaddon now?"

"No, that requires the certain alignment of the moon, which is in three days' time. There is a… procedure that Mr. Jones has to go through to be compatible."

Gwen's face fell even further. "Please… don't hurt him."

"Thanks to my men, that has already happened; and it will not be painful. Not physically at least."

Before the woman could reply, Manger and Patrick left the room and locked it behind them.

"Stay here," Manger commanded, heading back down the corridor.

Instead of heading back to the interrogation room, he continued on further, heading down stairways that led deep into the ground. He smiled to himself. Despite all of Torchwood and UNIT's many mechanical wonders, _he_ had managed to hide the biggest extra-terrestrial secret ever, after spending many years searching for this particular piece of equipment. He smiled to himself. Poor Mr. Jones was about to go through a horrific ordeal, an ordeal was never meant to happen to a human or someone with human consciousness covering who they really were.

Bilis was glad to find his men standing away from the now lucid Ianto Jones, who was once again strapped to another chair, though this time gagged and facing a steel shuttering. The man walked over to his captive and crouched in front of him.

Ianto breathed heavily, his brow creasing in worry. Bilis had to laugh.

"Do not worry, Mr. Jones, I have no interest in harming Mrs. Cooper. Indeed, you should be worried about yourself rather than her. She will come to no harm, but the same cannot be said for you."

Ianto's frown turned to a glare. The space-jumper let loose another cackle.

"You should now that I did once consider going for your grandfather. Oh yes, the Doctor would have been a very worthy sacrifice for my goals, but I realised that the current universe relies on his continual existence, for the time being at least. I then heard rumours of him having a child through artificial means on a planet three hundred years from now. The rumours proved to be true and I pursued the Doctor's daughter throughout the universe. Poor, dear Jennifer was running for a long, long time.

"Then I caught up with her and discovered that she had conceived a child. Not just any child either. One could look at her and see the Dalek DNA flowing through her veins. In a way, it is almost novel- not quite like that tale about star-crossed lovers from warring families, but the similarities are striking. Of course, my friend, Maurice, here is a little too trigger-happy and dear Jennifer was reduced to ashes and her daughter managed to escape with her mother's remains. Of course, you know who I'm talking about. Even a fool would be able to tell that you know Caiera Messaline. Because you are her brother, she would have been able to resist not getting to know you. That's the thing with Timelords- some of them were incredibly over-sentimental and it led to their undoing. And her sentiment has brought you here, to me. Your dear sister has failed to protect you as has your pathetic little team."

Ianto was breathing hard through the gag, the anger clear on his face. Bilis could clearly see his infuriation at his insulting of Caiera and Torchwood.

"Now you will be prepared for the resurrection of Abaddon. Your sacrifice is greatly appreciated."

Ianto was suddenly very scared. The resurrection of Abaddon? That would mean the end of the world. He struggled against his bonds, but there was no release.

He then realised that they had all exited the room, leaving him in the dim light, his heart pounding against his rib-cage as if it wanted to burst out.

There was the sound of a siren and the steel shutters began to lift. Inch by inch, it retreated into the ceiling until what it had been hiding was revealed.

A vacuum of nothing and everything lay before him, swirling with colours that shouldn't exist. Ianto could not look away. It was dazzling and terrifying and he was drawn in it.

That was when the pain started again, though it was far worse than before. He struggled to turn his gaze away from the vortex, but nothing was enough. He screamed again.

* * *

Rhys ran a hand over his face, breathing heavily. "Let me get this straight… A year ago, some nut came and tried to let his boss devour all life and time was reversed when they were stopped. I was also killed to make all of you feel guilty enough to open the Rift, but it was still fixed. However, said nut is now back and he's kidnapped Gwen and Ianto because he thinks that they'll know where _you_ are- a hybrid alien." He pointed at Caiera, who nodded, grimacing in discomfort. The Welshman couldn't help notice that she looked ill.

It was late afternoon in the Hub. Jack had called in Rhys because he was pretty sure that Manger would not be expecting Gwen's husband to be involved in any form of contingency plans to rescue them. All four of them had explained to him about why Manger was here and what he had done before- confusing Rhys as he had been told that he had died.

"There's also some form of weird hocus-pocus that'll bring said 'terrible beastie' back from the dead that involves something called a Timelord. Ianto is also half-Timelord as well as something else that I don't understand, and I'm Welsh for crying out loud- I spent most of my childhood speaking it with me mam- and he's your brother. Anyway, that makes Ianto compatible for this ritual and you're praying that the nut doesn't find out who he really is."

Caiera was impressed. "You got it." She turned to Jack. "He's taking it very well for someone who hasn't known for that long about what his wife does for a living."

"It comes with having something wanting to rip its spawn out of you wife," Rhys muttered.

"Urgh, Nostravites were always a pain in the arse, and that doesn't really cover it."

"Anyway…" Jack interrupted, trying to divert the conversation back on course. "Caiera reckons she can trace where they are, or at least where Ianto is because of this telepathic thing that they apparently have and Ianto has no idea about."

"Well… I can also trace Gwen because I've been around her, so I know who and what to look for. That's the easy bit. The trouble is getting in."

"What do you need me to do?" Rhys asked, folding his arms, importantly. "You wouldn't have called me here if you didn't have something in mind."

"I'm guessing here, but it's possible that Manger won't expect us to bring in someone who isn't technically in Torchwood- he knows that we do have some standards," Jack explained.

"And we're just thinking to play dirty because he may not be ready for it," Owen cut in. "We've dealt with Bilis before so he has an idea of how we may work. But it's dangerous 'cause he can teleport anywhere he chooses, meaning we'll have to be quick."

"You don't have to, Rhys," Caiera muttered, wringing her hands. "We know it's dangerous."

"To hell with that! Gwen's my wife and Ianto's a friend. If you think I'm going to abandon them then you've got another blasted thing coming. What do you need?"

At this, Tosh smiled. "Do you have a lorry that's good in a crash?"

* * *

Gwen sat on the floor leaning against the wall. She had never been so scared in her life. Facing aliens was a walk in the park. Hell, she could even consider the cannibals from the Brecon Beacons as an arrest she would have made back when she was a PC. Waiting to hear anything about Ianto had her on her wit's end. What could they possibly be doing him if they weren't already bringing Abaddon back from the grave? It sounded as if they were going to put him through some mental and emotional torture.

An evil thought reared its ugly head in her mind. What if they made him believe that they all hated him? What if he gave up and willingly died so that Abaddon could take his life-force. Gwen shook her head. Ianto was stronger than that. He was one of the strongest people she knew after going through hell with them and back in Torchwood One. Really, in this kind of job, she had never known anyone more human, despite the evidence that was presenting itself about his true origins.

She could only hope that Jack and the others would find them before anything drastic happened. Maybe Caiera would be able to help them if Jack and the others saw fit. She was another person who seemed to be more human than she actually was. Indeed, she had a lot of empathy in contrast to the Torchwood team, who had generally closed themselves off whilst on the job. Even though she was an alien and raved that Ianto was her long-lost twin brother, Caiera was one of the most caring and able people that Gwen had met. True, she had made mistakes, but that made her all the more human. It wasn't as if any of her team was blameless. All of them had done something that they were ashamed of.

Her musings were interrupted by a sudden cacophonous rumbling noise. Leaping to her feet, Gwen tried to steady herself as the ground began to shake. Closing her eyes, she waited. Bilis had lied. This was the end.

The world suddenly tore and she threw her hands over her head. She did not expect what happened next.

"Gwen!"

Staring up, Gwen felt her jaw drop. Rhys was rushing towards her through a hole in the wall, which had been created by a monstrous lorry. Before she was enfolded in a hug, she saw her team and Caiera amble through, the latters's eyes now looking human again.

"You okay, sweetheart?" Rhys asked, clutching her as if he thought the world would end if he let go.

"I'm fine," she reassured him. "I'm okay. They didn't hurt me. It's Ianto we need to worry about."

"What have they done to him?" Owen asked. "Just before we picked up Rhys, Madam here collapsed and she's looked like shit since then." At this, Caiera gave a weak grimace.

Gwen closed her eyes, shaking her head.

"Gwen," Jack said, quietly, speaking for the first time. He came forwards and held his hands on either shoulder. "What did they do to him?"

"It was horrible… I couldn't do anything… They injected him with something to try and get him to talk… Even after four syringes he wouldn't tell them anything… but… oh God, he was in so much pain… he wouldn't stop screaming… He didn't recognise me afterwards… And I was _so _stupid… he was burning up, so I started to undo his shirt… some sort of marks had appeared and Manger recognised them… he thinks that Ianto is Caiera's brother too… They're doing something to him now… some form of 'procedure' Manger called it… and they want to use him…"

"To resurrect Abaddon," Caiera finished in a dead voice.

There was silence. None of them had wanted to believe any of this, but now it was staring them in the face. Ianto was an alien, who had had his true consciousness hidden and Bilis Manger wanted to use him to bring back his master.

"We need to find him," Jack finally growled. "Caiera, where is he?"

"We need to get out of here first, Jack. Bear with me." The young woman dug into the depths of one of her pockets and pulled out a mess of wire with a luminous blue cap on the top. On seeing their befuddled faces, she explained. "It's not completely finished; I still need to sort out the casing. Sonic screwdrivers do come in handy… especially if they can open dead-lock seals." She held a button and ran it over the wall. She soon found the lining to the entrance and the door sprang open.

Before anyone else could react, she was holding her other hand out in front of her and a bright beam shot out of her extended palm.

Jack ran forth to find a burly man lying flat on the floor. He glared at Caiera. "Did you have to kill him?"

"FYI, Jack, I only stunned him. Please don't forget that I do have morals. Now let's crack on before Manger senses something. Ianto's down the corridor." She set off, with Jack hot on her tail. The others could tell how desperate they were to find the Welshman because of the speed they walked at.

Gwen recognised the corridor as they trekked towards where Ianto had been tortured earlier. A shiver ran through her spine. She prayed that they weren't using whatever it had been to torture him into submission.

All too soon, they arrived outside the room that Gwen dreaded.

"What if someone else is in there with him?" Tosh murmured, cocking her gun.

"No one in there but Ianto," Caiera replied. "Thank little mercies for that."

Impatient, Jack edged the door open, doing his best to stop it creaking. He then rushed in and was met by something that made his blood boil.

Ianto had been laid across a metal gurney and Jack could see the handcuffs that attached him to it. The Welshman was completely limp, but he was breathing, for which Jack thanked every God he knew of. The heart monitor next to him showed that he had a slow yet steady pulse.

Jack rushed forwards, closely followed by everyone else. Up close, Ianto was so pale that he already looked dead, his closed eyes puffy and swollen and his lips cracked and bleeding.

"Gods," Caiera whispered from behind. She sounded as if she was about to burst into tears. "Ianto?"

"He's practically dead to the world," Owen mused after lifting Ianto's eyelids and shining a torch. There was barely any response. "Jesus, what have they done?"

"They used this to begin with," Gwen's voice declared. They all turned to see her pick a syringe of the operation table that had been shoved against the wall.

Caiera took it from her and unscrewed the needle from the tube. She took a long look at it and then sniffed. Her breath caught in her chest as she recoiled. "Draxus venom."

"You've got to be kidding me," Owen growled, cursing. "And they used four syringes of that stuff?"

"Draxus venom?" Rhys queried, looking from Caiera to Owen.

It was Jack who answered. "Some colonies use this stuff to gather information off of their enemies. It's banned in some galaxies because of how potent it is."

"Yeah, and because of how potent it is, it'd have kept him conscious," Owen continued. "Jack, something else is wrong with him. Jesus, I don't even know where to start."

Caiera made a small whimpering noise and walked up to Ianto's unconscious form. She took one hand- Jack was clutching at the other one. On contact, she gasped and immediately backed away, her face a mask of pure horror.

"Caiera?" Jack asked.

The young woman was shaking her head, apparently not hearing him. "Oh God… Manger, what have you done?" She then repeated Owen's process of lifting her brother's eyelids. After a few seconds, she closed her eyes, her expression one of pain.

"What is it?" Tosh asked, Caiera's fear infecting her and the others.

Caiera lifted her gaze to Jack. "He's dying… Jesus, Jack… They made him look into the Untempered Schism… The Time Vortex is swirling around in his head."

* * *

_Sorry for this cliffie, but I do like creating suspense. Please let me know what you think. As I said, I will try to update soon._

_Thank you for being patient with me.  
_

_MerlinStar  
_


	10. Fight and Flight

_Hi all. Apologies for the long delays between updates. I can't promise that I'll be that efficient in the next few months as my A level exams are coming up, but I'll try to get somehting out again soon. And I apologise for the slightly shorter chapter, but I needed to break it up like this if it is going to work. Enjoy._

* * *

**Chapter 10: Flight and Fight**

Jack immediately paled at Caiera's revelation. His mind immediately turned back to many months ago when he had been helping the last humans escape to Utopia with the Doctor on the other side of the door. Rose had absorbed the Time Vortex and it had nearly killed her- she was only human. And so was Ianto- or at least he had been changed into one.

Cursing, Jack began to try and tug the handcuffs from the Welshman's wrists, but soon stopped by Owen.

"Are you crazy?" the doctor hissed. "You'll break something if you carry on like that."

"One moment," Caiera muttered, digging around in a coat pocket, frowning as she fumbled through the contents. Soon, she let out a sigh and drew out a small, cylindrical device with a blue film covering one end, the size of a button. Some of the silver plating was missing from areas, so that the wiring hung out in small loops of blue, green and red.

"What is that?" Tosh asked, her eyes momentarily lighting up in interest before she remembered the current situation.

"Sonic probe," Caiera explained, whilst holding the device against the handcuffs and placing her thumb over the big scarlet button. "Basically allows me to open any door I want, and I've modified it to deal with deadlock- people always use it when you seriously do not need it. I've only just finished it so I haven't been able to make it look cool."

Jack laughed at this, earning a stare from everyone else. "She basically means making it look like something else- a screwdriver or some lipstick maybe."

"Still, might not bother- I like it, and I probably will even more when I've put the rest of the plating on."

Owen rolled his eyes. "When you've finished drooling over a flaming sonic whatdyacallit, shall we get Ianto out of here before Bilis comes and rips the shit out of us?"

Knowing that a retort was not a solution, Jack hauled Ianto's limp form into his arms and they all pounded from the room and back the way we came.

"How are we going to get away?" Gwen asked, soon realising that they had crashed their only means of transport to break in.

"Caiera's got an ambulance parked round the side," Rhys explained, puffing heavily as they skidded past the still unconscious man outside Gwen's cell.

Clambering through the wreckage of brick and plaster, the group sprinted across the complex- Gwen realising that they had been in a warehouse near the bay. The sky was pitch black, indicating that it was around midnight. Staring ahead at Ianto, whose pale face was lolling over the captain's shoulder, she gulped. He really did look as if he was dead.

They managed to reach the other side of the warehouse grounds and were turning round the corner when Owen caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye. Looking back, he blanched.

"SHIT! MANGER!"

Indeed, Bilis Manger was watching them rush towards the ambulance, a malevolent glint in his eye. From behind him, a couple of the thugs sprinted out of the complex, guns in hand.

"Crap! Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, _crap_!" Caiera muttered, unlocking the ambulance and letting them all clamber into the back. She then strapped herself into the driver's seat and kicked the engine into life and sped down the narrow alley street.

In the back, Ianto had been laid over the only stretcher and Owen was attaching him to a heart monitor. Tosh had found an oxygen mask, which she was strapping around the unconscious man's face. Meanwhile, Rhys was cuddling Gwen in the corner, both clinging to each other. Jack had a hold of Ianto's hand.

"Are they following?" Owen asked, loudly, as Caiera had turned on the sirens. He was now untangling an IV saline.

Peering into the right-hand mirror, she swore. "A couple of flaming Ford Mustangs. Can't tell how many there are in each."

"We need to get to a hospital- the Hub's too far away. St. Helens is closer."

"My boss'll have a fit when he sees me there. No, screw that, he'll go into cardiac arrest, develop a haemorrhage and then have me thrown out."

"Focus Caiera," Jack said, rolling his eyes. Caiera seemed to have the same knack as her grandfather- going off of the subject at the wrong moment. That or it was rambling about something at eighty miles an hour, which was what they were currently travelling at.

"We need to lose this lot first," Rhys called, peering out of the back window.

Caiera snarled. "There is no way in hell that I am letting them get hold of my brother _again_. Buckle up, you lot, and make sure that Ianto is secure!"

With that not very helpful warning, the young woman gave a sharp turn of the wheel and applied the handbrake. The ambulance jerked around a tight corner and Caiera lifted the handbrake and floored the accelerator, speeding down a main road that would lead to the carriageway. The others had only just managed to stop themselves and Ianto from tumbling (or crashing) to the floor.

For a minute, Caiera thought that she had lost the people trailing her, but she was disheartened to see that they were still hot on their tail.

"Oh for Pete's sake!" she yelled. "Jack, I need you up here!"

Reluctantly, he left Ianto's side, Tosh taking over his previous position and clambered into the passenger's seat.

"You're going to have to keep driving," the alien hybrid explained, moving one hand from the wheel and unbuckled herself. She then reached for the door.

"You're not…" Jack's expression was one of admiration and slight horror.

"Well, do you have any other ideas?"

Tosh seemed to have caught on to what Caiera was about to do. "Caiera, wait. You need to think about this."

Caiera grimaced at her. "Never do. And, Tosh, if it's any consolation, I'm having kittens right now." She then swung the door open, whilst clutching at it, letting out a feral growl as is bounced in its hinges. Jack dove into the seat that she had just vacated and veered the ambulance back onto the right side of the road, just as they entered the double carriageway. Luckily there was nobody else in sight.

"What are you doing?" Gwen asked, both she and Rhys peering out of the back of the vehicle at the two cars that were pursuing them.

"Chemistry 101, guys. Never apply heat to rubber if you don't want it to melt or spontaneously burst into flames." Still keeping a firm grip of the door with one hand, she pointed the other one at the car closest to the ambulance. A blast of pure energy shot from her palm and collided with one of the tyres, causing the bulky car to weave sideways and into the barrier, flames and black smoke streaming into the air.

This annoyed the people driving the other car as the one in the passenger's seat slid halfway out of the window and trained his gun at Caiera. He fired, but the bullets seemed to fall out of the course a few feet from her.

"Nice try!" she called. With another flick of her wrist, the car met the same fate as the first, the tyres and the suspension drooping away from the main body.

Jack, who was slightly shocked at her display, turned his attention back to the road and took the next exit, which led them straight to the hospital. The car park was virtually deserted with only a few stray vehicles placed in seemingly random spaces. The dull light that hung over the entrance flickered, occasionally illuminating the massive red A&E sign.

Pulling up, Jack immediately leapt out of the driver's seat and followed Caiera around to the back of the ambulance, opening the back so that they could help bring out Ianto's stretcher.

"I am never getting into a vehicle with you at the wheel again," Owen muttered as they rushed towards the entrance. "I'll probably have to give everyone here a psych eval, including Ianto, and he's not even conscious."

"Owen, there's a time and a place," Jack said, scowling as they barged through the doors, much to the shock of the receptionists and other medical staff.

"Can we get a hand here?" Caiera yelled, leaning over her brother and checking his pulse, which was incredibly weak. "Owen, his pulse."

A few seconds later a few more doctors appeared and demanded to know what had happened.

"Name's Ianto Jones, Caucasian male, about twenty-six years old," Owen said at speed. "He was kidnapped not too long ago and was found having suffered from unknown trauma- probably psychological torture. Sluggish pupil response and no other reaction to stimuli. Weak pulse and we'd better hope it doesn't get any weaker or he'll go into an arrest. We need a private ward with a stronger IV drip going as well as an oxygen reserve and a ventilation unit on standby if things start to go pear-shaped. Nobody is to examine him apart from myself and Dr. Messaline, and that's an order."

Rhys held Gwen and Tosh back as the other three ran with the doctors and the stretcher down the corridor. Drawing both of them into a hug, he watched over their heads the he huddle vanished. He prayed that Ianto would survive and he cursed the bastards that had done this to him.

Jack heaved a sigh as he sat in the hard, plastic chair in the dim corridor. It had been at least an hour since Ianto had been taken into the small room and the medics had been rushing in and out with various equipment. He had been able to hear Caiera and Owen's orders amidst the rush, but he wasn't really listening.

They had not let him stay with Ianto as they had needed to make sure that he was stable and would remain that way for now, but Jack was afraid that it would be hopeless. Again, he recalled what the Doctor had told him. Even if Ianto had once been a Timelord, he had not been so for over twenty years and his human DNA would cost him his life. Jack growled, his anger rising as he thought of the hell that Manger had put his lover through. He did not want to imagine the agony that Ianto would definitely be going through.

At one point, he felt a presence next to him and he turned to see Caiera sitting next to him, her face flustered and her eyes wet with unshed tears.

"Is he…" Jack couldn't bring himself to finish the question.

"He's stable for now, but it won't last long. This isn't like what happened with Rose, Jack. The Time Vortex… It's trying to find that connection because it can sense it. It's trying to draw on the Timelord to absorb it, but it's stuck. I don't know how long… Oh God…" She tilted her head backwards and ran a hand through her hair. "You'll be able to go in after Owen's just finished checking him. Rhys is with the other two- I don't think Tosh is coping with it too well."

"Can you blame her?"

"Of course not. Gods, Jack, forget the fact that he's my brother. First and foremost, he's _your_ friend and someone that all of you love. I wouldn't want to see someone I love suffer like this." She laughed. "What am I saying? Some I love _is_ suffering." She rubbed her eyes and leant forwards in her chair. "Why did I come here? You were all fine and Ianto was happy. I've well and truly made a mess of everything for you."

"It's not your fault. Manger killed your mother and you panicked. You decided to find him to protect him."

"And in the process, I make a massive mistake and Ianto pays the price. What does that make me, Jack, because I have no idea. I'm such a… _twat_ to have endangered my own brother."

"Despite what you actually are, that kind of mistake makes you human- more human than some people I've had to deal with over the years. You wanted to protect him. Coming here wasn't a mistake. Manger would have probably found out about him anyway and you'd be lost in space somewhere."

Caiera sighed. "Human… seems a strange concept for someone like me with Dalek DNA… How are you holding up anyway?"

Jack shook his head. "How do you think?"

She shook her head, sadly. "Jack… even if I have to tear Time itself apart, I promise that I'll save him… Whatever it takes, I'm not going to let the Vortex consume him or let Manger use him for his twisted mission. I… well, I don't know, but I've seen what you've gone through… what you _and _Ianto and all the others have gone through to get here. You've seen some pretty impossible things in your life, so don't lose faith. Ianto _will_ survive this."

"Can you promise me that?"

"We're the Doctor's grandchildren. Do you really think I need to keep that promise to fulfil it?"

"You've got a point there."

They both looked back across to the closed door, through which Owen was still inspecting Ianto.

"You know that what you did in the ambulance was insane," Jack finally muttered.

Caiera shrugged. "With my heritage, it's not uncommon. I've done stranger in my time and I wasn't going to take any chances. We had to shake them off, so I just made sure that they didn't."

"Not by killing them though."

She rolled her eyes. "Please don't tell me that you are still under the assumption that I'll go AWOL and kill people. I know that what happened with the Hoix was… I can't even put it into words, but it'll haunt me for the rest of my life. And if I really did follow any Dalek notions, do you really think I'd be trying to save Ianto- Daleks do not have the concept of family, which is why I thank God that my mum's genes are more dominant there."

"We've all done things that we regret. You, me, even Ianto and the others."

"I know… but Jack… I'm not condoning what Ianto did… with Lisa… but you could have been a bit gentler with him… he loved her and… though there's you and him now… there will always be a part of her inside of him… That's the thing with people that we love… They never leave you... Really, I should be thanking you as well for saving him from himself… He's barely lived compared to you and… people like Mum and the Doctor."

Jack frowned, not really knowing what to say. "Thanks, I guess… Caiera… How old are you exactly?"

"I'm the same age as Ianto. We may have grown up in different periods of time, but we've always run parallel. And… I may have two hearts, but I'm not sure about what that could entail."

"The regeneration process?"

"Or lack thereof. Mum was lucky, but she did it in kind of the same way that you do- die then come back. Now take someone like me and Ianto for instance, with probably enough Dalek DNA to counteract that process. I mean… you saw how those bullets just bounced off of me. But what if something slipped through those barriers? I've never died, Jack, so I have literally not got a clue if I'd ever wake up again. Call me a coward if you want, but that idea is not very appealing, especially if someone manages to get a hold of my body for experiments. Heaven forbid if that ever happened to Ianto. If it did, I don't think I'd be able to be accountable for my actions. I don't agree with people being experimented on or treated differently just because they _are_ different."

At that moment, the door opened and they both jumped to their feet as Owen reappeared, his face drawn and severe.

"Any change?" Caiera asked, her face white.

"None," Owen replied. "It's like his body is stuck and doesn't know what to do. He's not responding to anything, so that would suggest a coma. But then, looking at his brain scans…" He trailed off.

"The energy in his brain is off the chart," Caiera finished. "It's like a rocket stuck on a launch pad, tearing itself to pieces in an attempt to fly."

"Only I can't see it taking off."

Jack buried his face in his hands. After a few moments in which he collected himself, he turned back to Owen. "Can I sit with him?"

Owen did not say anything, but stood aside. Jack immediately made his way to Ianto's bedside, taking in the oxygen mask and the huge bruises under the younger man's eyes. He was incredibly pale, making him seem even thinner than usual. If Owen wasn't already proof of it, then Jack would have more than likely said that he looked like the living dead.

Both doctors watched as Jack leant closer to Ianto and started to mutter words they could not hear.

"Are you alright, Owen?" Caiera asked after a moment, turning away so that the captain could have his privacy with her brother.

"I should have prepared myself for something like this," he muttered, running his gloved hand through his hair. "But for Christ's sake, it's Ianto. He's the last one I thought would be on… well his deathbed this soon. Jesus, Caiera… I don't mean this in a selfish way, but _I've_ only just died. If he goes then everything'll fall apart. I don't know how we'd cope without him." Here, he rounded on her, suddenly angry. "And don't you dare ever tell anyone that I just said that, least of all the tea boy."

The young doctor gave a small, sad smile. "My lips are sealed… Sealed… Oh my God, Owen!"

Owen stared at her as if she'd gone mad, which she probably had.

Caiera started to pace, her hands on her hips. "Part of him is sealed in the fob watch… Oh… Oh… That's brilliant, if I do say so myself… Owen, I'll be right back. Go and tell the others how Ianto's doing. Make sure I have a brother to come back to as well. I'll meet you back in the room."

"Where the hell are you going?"

Caiera didn't reply, but sped down the corridor and out of sight.

Shaking his head, Owen went to find the two women and Rhys, guessing that they would be in the cafeteria.

Back in the room, Jack had a hold of one of Ianto's hands again and was refusing to look at the vacant and pale face that he knew looked lifeless.

"I shouldn't have made you go back home," he finally whispered, his voice cracking. "Trust me to lock up the wrong alien, even if she is the offspring of the most feared species in the universe. And now… because of that, you're… you're dying. How the hell did this happen? You've been knocked unconscious by a meteor shockwave and had that massive fit. Now you've got the Time Vortex in your head… God!" He hung his head and then forced himself to look at Ianto's face.

The Welshman's slack expression made him look quite peaceful, though Jack knew that he would be in a lot of pain. It seemed as if he was growing paler by the minute, like the life was being sucked out of him and into the Vortex. Jack wondered whether this had happened to…

"Before all of this… Hell, before I even joined Torchwood, I had this friend. She absorbed the Time Vortex as well and… she's the reason that I'm here… she fixed me like this… she was human too, but I guess your humanity… you are human, Ianto, but you have that link to a Timelord… I suppose… I should be grateful because it's keeping you alive…" He had to look away here, baring his teeth in self-loathing. "How selfish does that make me? You must be in so much pain and I have no idea if you want it to end or not… I'm selfish because I'm going to keep fighting… We've… Okay, I know he's still with us, but we lost Owen and Gwen was nearly ripped to pieces not too long ago… I am not going to lose anyone else, least of all you."

"You're not… selfish," a small and frail voice said. Spinning his head around, Jack jumped to his feet.

Ianto was awake.

"Ianto? How are you feeling?"

"Trampled by a hundred Weevils… doesn't quite cover it… but I'm coping."

"Liar." Jack had seen this before. Ianto would do all he could to deny the pain and hide behind a façade. The Captain had hoped that he wouldn't resort to doing this like he had done in the past.

"I'll be fine, Jack. It'll work out in the end."

"How do you know that?"

"We're Torchwood… things usually look like shit… but we always bounce back… Me and the others… we may not be immortal… but we know how to bounce back."

Jack couldn't help it. He laughed.

Caiera sped into the loft and ripped the chest of drawers open. Rifling around, she let out a sigh as she found it. The fob watch. Leaning it against her forehead, she let the cold metal cool her skin.

"God, I hope that this works."

Tosh looked up from her tea and gazed around at her companions. Owen was slouched in the chair next to her, his expression blank and far away. Gwen and Rhys were huddled together opposite them, both warming their hands on a cup of tea.

None of them had been able to buy coffee. Even thinking about it reminded them of Ianto and what was happening to him.

"He doesn't deserve any of this," Gwen finally muttered, her eyes red from crying and lack of sleep.

"No one would deserve this," Tosh mumbled, her expression extremely glum. "I wouldn't even wish this on my worst enemy. Ianto must be… well… going through hell doesn't cover it."

"It's bullshit," Owen growled. "He's still a kid for Christ sake's." At this, Rhys looked puzzled, so the doctor explained. "He's the youngest and yet he's gone through the most shit- Canary Wharf, Lisa, those bloody cannibals and now this."

"He's never given up though, has he?" Rhys said, a slight frown dominating his forehead. "Just because he has some form of vacuum spinning around in his head, that doesn't mean he'll let it get the better of him." Here, the other three stared at him. "Sure, I may not know that much about what's gone on before Gwen joined you lot, but if Ianto's come through all of that rubbish without wanting to off himself, then what's to stop him from pushing through this. From the sounds of things, this is an 'end-of-the-world' situation if everything goes tit's up, and that's never stopped any of you before. Not you three, not Ianto and not Jack. And I bet Caiera would agree with me."

"You bet I do, Rhys."

They span around to find the young doctor stood behind them, looking as if she had just sprinted a marathon- her face was red, her breath laboured and her hair incredibly windswept.

"Where the hell did you go?" Owen asked, raising an eyebrow.

Caiera reached into one of her pockets and pulled out the fob watch. Owen's eyes widened, whereas the others merely looked confused.

"And a watch is going to help how?" Gwen asked, biting her lip.

"Ah… right, sorry, I should explain." Caiera grimaced in a bemused fashion as if she had forgotten something vital. "To hide Ianto, my mum turned him into a human with this biological alternating device called a Chameleon Arc. His Timelord and Dalek essence was locked away in this fob watch, so I'm thinking that I could use this to save Ianto."

"So, if you open that, Ianto becomes a Timelord and Dalek hybrid?" Tosh asked, her eyes lighting with puzzlement and amazement in equal measures.

"That's the theory. Hopefully it would mean that his Timelord DNA would absorb the Time Vortex energy, but… I have no idea if he would survive-"

She cut off and turned around, gawping in horror at the entrance to the cafeteria.

"Caiera?" Gwen asked, standing. "What's wrong?"

"Oh no," was the only answer she got. With that, the younger woman set off at a run and sped down the corridor. The others followed with a sinking feeling in their stomachs. They ignored the many stares that they received off of the other doctors and nurses, only intent on following Caiera. Owen nearly crashed into one doctor who was transporting a bagged body to the morgue.

As they arrived at Ianto's room, they heard Caiera shouting and cursing.

"NO! For the love… How did they FIND HIM?" Caiera was standing next to the bed, hunched over with a hand over her mouth. She was close to tears.

Gwen walked up to her and enfolded her in a hug, letting the younger alien let out her grief against her shoulder. Looking around and shuddering, she could see why Caiera was so distressed. The bedside lamp had been smashed into a thousand glittering pieces and the sheets from the bed had been strewn over the floor. Gwen guessed that Ianto had woken up- she could recognise a struggle with her eyes closed. The worst thing was the massive blood stain in the middle of the floor, which clearly indicated that Jack had been killed.

"Jesus," Rhys whispered, his face paling at the mess before them.

At that moment, Owen swore at the top of his voice, causing all of them to jump in fright. They watched as the doctor went back the way they came. Tosh was the only one who followed him.

As they neared the entrance to the hospital, both of them could see a couple of men leaping into an ambulance. Owen increased his pace, but was just too late to prevent the vehicle from driving away.

"Damn it!" he yelled, kicking at the ground.

"Owen, what is it?" Tosh gasped, clutching at the stitch in her side.

"That doctor moving the body bag in the corridor. It must have been Jack and Ianto. For God's sake, I should have realised that there was more than one person in there." He glared in the direction that the ambulance had left before turning back to Tosh. "We'd better hope that Caiera can track Ianto quickly, Tosh, otherwise I don't fancy anyone's chances. For all I know, in a few hours, it could be the end of the world."

* * *

_Yeah, I took a couple of lines from The Fantastic Four, Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes, so I can't take credit for them. Also (a bit of background info), the song that Caiera played earlier is actually the Ballad of Ianto Jones from the Series 3 soundtrack, so obviously I do not own that either. Again, apologies if I can't update soon. _

_MerlinStar_


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